A nurse is assessing a 17-year-old adolescent's cognitive development. Which behavior indicates the adolescent has reached formal operations?

A) Uses play to understand surroundings
B) Discusses the topic of justice in society
C) Hits other students to deal with environmental change
D) Questions where the ice is hiding when ice has melted in a drink

Discussing the topic of justice demonstrates that the adolescent is concerned about issues that affect others besides self. In the formal operations period, as adolescents mature, their thinking moves to abstract and theoretical subjects. They have the capacity to reason with respect to possibilities. Hitting would be a common schema during the sensorimotor stage of development. Using play to learn about the environment is indicative of the preoperational stage. During the concrete operations stage (ages 6 to 12 years), children are able to coordinate two concrete perspectives in social and scientific thinking, such as understanding the difference between "hiding" and "melting."