Qualitative Differences in Adults' Thinking
             QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES IN ADULTS' THINKING
             Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist who developed a theory of cognitive
             development has had a huge impact on cognitive development studies.
             Piaget suggested that children go through four separate stages of cognitive
             development in a fixed order that is universal in all children (Kodat, 2001).
             Piaget declared that these stages differ not only in the quantity of information
             acquired at each, but also in the quality of knowledge and understanding at
             that stage. Piaget suggested that movement from one stage to the next
             occurred when the child reached an appropriate age and was exposed to
             relevant types of experiences. Without experience, children were assumed
             incapable of reaching their highest cognitive ability. Piaget's four stages are
             known as the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal
             Piaget's sensorimotor period is the first stage of development and is seen
             in infants. The preoperational period is the next stage of development and
             includes the thinking and responses of young children. The concrete
             operational period is the time that a child begins to be able to reason. Formal
             operational thinking begins at ages eleven or twelve and continues into adulthood.
             According to Piaget, adolescents learn to think logically in abstract situations, learn to test
             hypotheses systematically, and become interested in the world of ideas (Cavanaugh & Blanchard
             Fields, 2002). Thinking is no longer tied to events that can be observed. A child
             at this stage can think hypothetically and use logic to solve problems
             (Kodat, 2001). Piaget describes formal operational thought as a way of conceiving abstract
             concepts and thinking about them in a very systematic, step-by-step way. Formal operational
             thought is governed by a generalized logic...