Context Shift
LSAT glossary · Reading Comprehension
Definition
A reasoning flaw in which the premises and conclusion describe the same subject and characteristic, but the surrounding context has silently changed between them. Classic example: Ian's photos dropped from 6% to 4% of his computer memory, so he must have deleted some — ignoring that he may have added a larger drive and changed the baseline. LSAT phrasing: "fails to consider that circumstances may have changed."
Context Shift in plain English
A context shift is when the topic stays the same but the background situation quietly changes between the evidence and the conclusion — so a fact that looks like proof actually isn't. Example: Ian's photos went from 6% to 4% of his computer's memory, so "he must have deleted photos" — but maybe he just added a bigger hard drive, so the same photos became a smaller slice of a larger whole. It's like your allowance being a smaller share of your spending money not because you got less, but because you also started a side job; the pie grew. The tell is a hidden change in circumstances; the LSAT phrases it as "fails to consider that circumstances may have changed."
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