Reading & Writing mistakes are harder to log well than Math mistakes, because it's rarely obvious afterward why you picked the wrong answer — there's no equation to point at the exact step that went wrong. Here's how to catch the patterns anyway.
Picking the answer that sounds right instead of the one the passage supports
Command of Evidence questions ask which quote or data point best supports a claim, and the wrong answers are usually true statements that just don't actually answer the question asked. Choosing a plausible-sounding answer over the textually-supported one is a Concept Misunderstanding about how evidence questions work, not a reading-speed problem — the fix is going back to the specific line the right answer cites, every time, even when you're confident.
Grammar rules that get half-remembered
Subject-verb agreement across a long, distracting phrase, or comma usage with nonessential clauses, are the two grammar rules that produce the most repeat mistakes. If you can't state the rule when you review the question, it's a Knowledge Gap; if you can state it but applied it to the wrong part of the sentence, it's Misapplied Concept — the distinction matters because the first needs a grammar refresher and the second needs practice identifying sentence structure under time pressure.
Missing the shift in a passage's tone or argument
Many Reading passages pivot midway — a claim gets qualified, an example undercuts the opening point. Picking an answer based on only the first half of a passage is Misread the Question in a broader sense: you answered based on incomplete information. Log it that way, and if it keeps happening, it's a signal to slow down on transition words ("however," "although," "but") rather than to re-study vocabulary.
Words-in-context traps
Choosing the most common definition of a word instead of the one that fits this specific sentence — "table" as a piece of furniture instead of "to table a motion" — is a genuine trap, not carelessness. Tag it Concept Misunderstanding the first couple of times; if a specific word type (dual-meaning words, tone-shifting words) keeps showing up, that's worth its own study block.
Transition and Rhetorical Synthesis questions rushed at the end
These question types cluster toward the back of a module and are often the ones cut short when time runs low. If you're consistently guessing or skipping them, log it as Time Management, not a content gap — the fix is pacing practice on the module as a whole, not extra transition-word drills.
Why Reading & Writing categories need more specific tags than Math
"Reading mistake" hides everything, because R&W mistakes come from at least four genuinely different skills — evidence, grammar, vocabulary in context, and passage structure. Log the actual category (the digital SAT's own domain names work well: Information and Ideas, Craft and Structure, Expression of Ideas, Standard English Conventions) so a review a few weeks in can tell you which of the four is actually the problem instead of just "reading."