Piaget's theory of cognitive development consists of various stages, which happen at various times of a young person's life. The stage of life for an adolescent, between the ages of twelve to sixteen, is known as the formal operational stage. This stage is the fourth and final stage of cognitive development. "Formal operational thinkers can recognize and identify a problem. They can state several alternative hypotheses, execute procedures to collect information about the problems to be studied, and test the hypotheses." (Lin, 2002). Prior to adolescence thought is concentrated on much less complex thoughts.During this stage they acquire a method of thinking called hypothetical-deductive thought. This is characterized by thinking of various hypothetical possibilities to problems or issues, such as a teenager coming up with different ways to ask their parents to borrow the car on Saturday night. Then follows the application of deductive reasoning to the multitude of possibilities. This is characterized by a brand of reasoning "from a general statement or principle, through logical steps, to a specific conclusion."(Berger, 366). This train of thought and logical thinking is a major accomplishment...