2.2 Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions

Reading Between the Lines, Not Beyond Them

An inference is a logical conclusion that a passage implies but never states directly. Inference questions are heavily represented in the ATI TEAS 7 Reading section, and they are where careful test-takers separate themselves. The defining rule is strict: on the TEAS, a valid inference must be anchored in the text. You are reading between the lines, but you must never read beyond them into your own opinions or specialized nursing knowledge that the passage did not supply.

This is the single biggest mistake students make. The TEAS is not testing what you already know about medicine; it is testing whether you can reason from the words on the page. If a choice requires a fact the passage never gave you, it is wrong no matter how true it is in real life.

The Inference Formula

Think of every inference as a small equation:

Text Evidence + Reasonable Logic = Valid Inference

If you cannot point to the specific words that triggered your conclusion, you do not have a valid inference - you have a guess. A useful self-check is to finish this sentence: "I can infer ____ because the passage says ____." If you cannot fill in the second blank with actual text, drop the inference.

Inference vs. Conclusion vs. Prediction vs. Assumption

The TEAS uses these related terms in question stems, so define them precisely.

Three Inference Types You Will See

1. Character or person inferences - what a person's actions, words, or descriptions reveal about them. Text: "She rechecked the dosage three times before signing the chart." Inference: she is careful and detail-oriented.
2. Cause-effect inferences - the implied relationship between two events. Text: "After the unit added sanitizer stations, infections fell." Inference: the stations likely contributed to the drop.
3. Predictive inferences - what is likely to happen next. Text: "His temperature has risen at each of the last three checks." Inference: it will probably keep rising without intervention.

Notice the hedged language - likely, probably. Real life is uncertain, and so are correct TEAS inferences.

Drawing a Conclusion from Multiple Details

A conclusion is a higher-order inference. Instead of reasoning from one sentence, you gather evidence from across the passage, look for a pattern, discard anything that conflicts with the text, and state the most defensible judgment. Conclusions answer questions like "Based on the passage, the author would most likely agree that..."

A four-step conclusion routine:

1. Collect every relevant detail in the passage.
2. Look for a pattern or repeated emphasis.
3. Eliminate any option that contradicts even one detail.
4. Choose the judgment the evidence supports most directly.

A Worked Inference Example

Example passage: "By the time Mr. Alvarez reached the front desk, he had read every pamphlet in the waiting room twice and was tapping his folder against the counter. He asked the receptionist, for the third time, how much longer the wait would be."

Question: What can you most reasonably infer about Mr. Alvarez?

Valid inference: He is impatient or anxious about the wait. Evidence: reading pamphlets twice, tapping, asking three times.

Invalid (goes beyond the text): He is angry at the receptionist. The passage shows restlessness, not anger directed at a person.

Invalid (outside knowledge): He has an anxiety disorder. The passage gives no medical information; this imports knowledge the text never provided.

Invalid (contradicts logic): He is relaxed and content. The behaviors point the opposite direction.

The winning choice is the one a reasonable person would defend using only the passage's own clues - never the most dramatic option, and never the one requiring facts the text withheld.

Avoiding the Classic Inference Traps

• Overgeneralizing - turning "one clinic improved" into "all clinics will improve."
• Importing outside knowledge - adding medical facts the passage never stated.
• Choosing the extreme - picking absolute words like always, never, proves when the text only suggested.
• Ignoring contradicting evidence - selecting a tidy conclusion that one sentence in the passage clearly disproves.

When two answers both seem supported, choose the one that stays closest to the text and claims the least. The smallest defensible step is almost always the correct inference on the TEAS.