The APA Origin of the Cognitive Taxonomy

In 1948, discussions at a convention of the American Psychological Association prompted Benjamin S. Bloom to lead a group of educators in developing behaviors important to the educational process in three domains:

• Cognitive
• Affective
• Psychomotor

In 1956, Bloom published a handbook as a guide to what he valued as important cognitive behaviors - commonly referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy. Most recently, this was revised by a group lead by a former student of Bloom - Lois Anderson. This was published as the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy - and became known as Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.

The Revised Taxonomy

The original Bloom's Taxonomy, developed in the 1950's included a range of sills from high to low:

• Evaluation
• Synthesis
• Anaylsis
• Application
• Understanding
• Knowledge

The revision changed the level descriptors into verbs and altered the meaning of the activities:

• Create
• Evaluate
• Analyze
• Apply
• Understand
• Remember