Statements can be written in other ways as well and these other forms have identifying names: They are the biconditional, the converse, the inverse, and the contrapositive.
Consider the following conditional statement:
If I try then I will succeed.
p> q
The biconditional form for this given conditional statement would be: I will succeed if and only if I try.
p > q or (q>p) ^ (p>) q)
The converse would be If I succeed I try.
q> p
The inverse would be: If I do not try then I do not succeed.
~ p>~ q
Finally, the contrapositive would be: If I do not succeed then I do not try. ~ p>~p.
Children after seeing an example done might be able to give the various statements and symbols for a similar type problem or create one of their own. The vocabulary introduced should be discussed and children should become familiar with these words especially the prefixes bi con contra and in . Pretest question ~ should no longer be a mystery. Other words with these prefixes may also be studied.
