B l o o m ' s Ta xo n o my o f L e a r n i n g

Domains

Bloom's Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of

educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher
forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and
evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and principles , rather than
just remembering facts (rote learning). It is most often used when
designing educational, training, and learning processes.

The Three Domains of Learning

The committee identified three domains of educational activities
or learning  (Bloom, et al. 1956):

o Cognitive: mental skills (knowledge)

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 o Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (attitude or self)
o Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (skills)

Since the work was produced by higher education, the words tend to be
a little bigger than we normally use. Domains may be thought of as
categories. Instructional designers, trainers, and educators often refer
to these three categories as KSA
(Knowledge  [cognitive], Skills  [psychomotor], and Attitudes  [affective]).
This taxonomy of learning behaviors may be thought of as “the goals of
the learning process.” That is, after a learning episode, the learner
should have acquired a new skill, knowledge, and/or attitude.

While the committee produced an elaborate compilation for the

cognitive and affective domains, they omitted the psychomotor domain.
Their explanation for this oversight was that they have little experience
in teaching manual skills within the college level. However, there have
been at least three psychomotor models  created by other researchers.

Their compilation divides the three domains into subdivisions, starting

from the simplest cognitive process or behavior to the most complex.
The divisions outlined are not absolutes and there are other systems or
hierarchies that have been devised, such as the Structure of Observed
Learning Outcome  (SOLO). However, Bloom's taxonomy is easily
understood and is probably the most widely applied one in use today.

C o g n i ti v e D o m a i n
The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the
development of intellectual skills (Bloom, 1956).
This includes the recall or recognition of specific
facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve
in the development of intellectual abilities and
skills. There are six major categories of cognitive
an processes, starting from the simplest to the
most complex (see the table below  for an in-depth coverage of each
category):

o Knowledge
o Comprehension

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 o Application
o Analysis
o Synthesis
o Evaluation

The categories can be thought of as degrees of difficulties. That is, the

first ones must normally be mastered before the next one can take
place.

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

Lorin Anderson, a former student of Bloom, and David Krathwohl
revisited the cognitive domain in the mid-nineties and made some
changes, with perhaps the three most prominent ones being (Anderson,
Krathwohl, Airasian, Cruikshank, Mayer, Pintrich, Raths, Wittrock,
2000):

o changing the names in the six categories from noun to verb forms
o rearranging them as shown in the chart below
o creating a processes and levels of knowledge matrix

The chart shown below compares the original taxonomy with the revised one:

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This new

taxonomy reflects a more active form of thinking and is perhaps more

accurate. The new version of Bloom's Taxonomy, with examples and
keywords is shown below, while the old version may be found here

T a b l e o f t h e R e v i s e d C o g n i ti v e D o m a i n
Examples, key words (verbs), and technologies for
Category
learning (activities)

Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from

memory to a customer. Recite the safety
rules.

Remembering: Recall or Key Words: defines, describes, identifies,

retrieve previous learned knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines,
information. recalls, recognizes, reproduces, selects,
states

Technologies: book marking, flash cards,

rote learning based on repetition, reading

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Understanding:
Comprehending the meaning,
translation, interpolation, and
interpretation of instructions
and problems. State a
problem in one's own words.
Applying: Use a concept in a
new situation or unprompted
use of an abstraction. Applies
what was learned in the
classroom into novel
situations in the work place.
Analyzing: Separates
material or concepts into
component parts so that its
organizational structure may
be understood. Distinguishes
between facts and inferences.
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Examples: Rewrite the principles of test
writing. Explain in one's own words the steps
for performing a complex task. Translate an
equation into a computer spreadsheet.
Key Words: comprehends, converts, defends,
distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends,
generalizes, gives an example, infers,
interprets, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites,
summarizes, translates
Technologies: create an analogy,
participating in cooperative learning , taking
notes, storytelling, Internet search
Examples: Use a manual to calculate an
employee's vacation time. Apply laws of
statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written
test.
Key Words: applies, changes, computes,
constructs, demonstrates, discovers,
manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts,
prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves,
uses
Technologies:  collaborative learning , create
a process, blog, practice
Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment
by using logical deduction. Recognize logical
fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information
from a department and selects the required
tasks for training.
Key Words: analyzes, breaks down,
compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs,
differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes,
identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates,
 selects, separates

Technologies: Fishbowls , debating,
questioning what happened, run a test

Examples: Select the most effective solution.

Hire the most qualified candidate. Explain and
justify a new budget.

Evaluating: Make judgments Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes,

about the value of ideas or contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends,
materials. describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains,
interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes,
supports

Technologies: survey, blogging

Examples: Write a company operations or

Creating: Builds a structure
or pattern from diverse
elements. Put parts together
to form a whole, with
emphasis on creating a new
meaning or structure.
process manual. Design a machine to perform
a specific task. Integrates training from
several sources to solve a problem. Revises
and process to improve the outcome.
Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles,
composes, creates, devises, designs,
explains, generates, modifies, organizes,
plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates,
reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes,
tells, writes

Technologies: Create a new model, write an

essay, network with others

 
C o g n i ti v e P r o c e s s e s a n d L e v e l s o f K n o w l e d g e
Matrix
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy not only improved the usability of it by
using action words, but added a cognitive and knowledge matrix.
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While Bloom's original cognitive taxonomy did mention three levels of
knowledge or products that could be processed, they were not
discussed very much and remained one-dimensional:

o Factual - The basic elements students must know to be acquainted with a

discipline or solve problems.
o Conceptual – The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger
structure that enable them to function together.
o Procedural - How to do something, methods of inquiry, and criteria for using
skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods.

In Krathwohl and Anderson's revised version, the authors combine the

cognitive processes with the above three levels of knowledge to form a
matrix. In addition, they added another level of knowledge -
metacognition:

o Metacognitive – Knowledge of cognition in general, as well as awareness and

knowledge of one’s own cognition. 

When the cognitive and knowledge dimensions are arranged in a

matrix, as shown below, it makes a nice performance aid for creating
performance objectives:

          The Cognitive Dimension

The Knowledge Under-

Remember Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Dimension stand
Factual            
Conceptual            
Procedural            
Metacognitive            

However, others have identified five contents or artifacts (Clark,

Chopeta, 2004; Clark, Mayer, 2007):

o Facts - Specific and unique data or instance.

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 o Concepts - A class of items, words, or ideas that are known by a common
name, includes multiple specific examples, shares common features. There are
two types of concepts: concrete and abstract.
o Processes - A flow of events or activities that describe how things work rather
than how to do things. There are normally two types: business processes that
describe work flows and technical processes that describe how things work in
equipment or nature. They may be thought of as the big picture, of how
something works.
o Procedures - A series of step-by-step actions and decisions that result in the
achievement of a task. There are two types of actions: linear and branched.
o Principles - Guidelines, rules, and parameters that govern. It includes not only
what should be done, but also what should not be done. Principles allow one
to make predictions and draw implications. Given an effect, one can infer the
cause of a phenomena. Principles are the basic building blocks of causal
models or theoretical models (theories).

Thus, the new matrix would look similar to this:

The Cognitive Dimension

The Knowledge Under-

Remember Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Dimension stand
Facts            
Concepts            
Processes            
Procedures            
Principles            
Metacognitive            

An example matrix that has been filled in might look something like this:

The Knowledge Under-

Remember Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Dimension stand
para-
Facts list classify outline rank categorize
phrase

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 Concepts recall explains show contrast criticize modify
Processes outline estimate produce diagram defend design
give an
Procedures reproduce relate identify critique plan
example
different-
Principles state converts solve conclude revise
iates
Meta-cognitive proper use interpret discover infer predict actualize

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 B l o o m ' s Ta xo n o my : T h e A ff e c ti v e
Domain
The affective domain is one of three domains in Bloom's Taxonomy,
with the other two being the cognitive  and psychomotor  (Bloom, et al.,
1956). For an overview of the three domains, see the introduction .

The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1973) includes the

manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as
feelings, values , appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations , and attitudes .
The five major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the
most complex:

Example and Key

Category
Words (verbs)

Examples:
Listen to others
with respect.
Listen for and
remember the
name of newly
Receiving
introduced
Phenomena:
people.
Awareness,
willingness to hear,
Key Words:
selected attention.
acknowledge,
asks, attentive,
courteous,
dutiful, follows,
gives, listens,
understands

Responds to Examples:
Phenomena: Active Participates in
participation on the class

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part of the learners. Attend and react to a
particular phenomenon. Learning
outcomes may emphasize compliance in
responding, willingness to respond, or
satisfaction in responding (motivation).
Valuing: The worth or value a person
attaches to a particular object,
phenomenon, or behavior. This ranges
from simple acceptance to the more
complex state of commitment. Valuing is
based on the internalization of a set of
specified values, while clues to these
values are expressed in the learner's overt
behavior and are often identifiable.
Organization: Organizes values into
priorities by contrasting different values,
resolving conflicts between them, and
creating an unique value system. The
emphasis is on comparing, relating, and
synthesizing values.  professional ethical standards.
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discussions. Gives a
presentation. Questions new
ideals, concepts, models, etc. in
order to fully understand them.
Know the safety rules and
practice them.
Key Words: answers, assists,
aids, complies, conforms,
discusses, greets, helps, labels,
performs, presents, tells
Examples: Demonstrates belief
in the democratic process. Is
sensitive towards individual and
cultural differences (value
diversity). Shows the ability to
solve problems. Proposes a plan
to social improvement and
follows through with commitment.
Informs management on matters
that one feels strongly about.
Key Words: appreciates,
cherish, treasure, demonstrates,
initiates, invites, joins, justifies,
proposes, respect, shares
Examples: Recognizes the need
for balance between freedom and
responsible behavior. Explains
the role of systematic planning in
solving problems. Accepts
Creates a life plan in harmony
with abilities, interests, and
beliefs. Prioritizes time
effectively to meet the needs of
the organization, family, and self.
 Key Words: compares, relates,
synthesizes

Examples: Shows self-reliance

when working independently.
Cooperates in group activities
(displays teamwork). Uses an
objective approach in problem
Internalizes Values (characterization):
solving. Displays a professional
Has a value system that controls their
commitment to ethical  practice
behavior. The behavior is pervasive,
on a daily basis. Revises
consistent, predictable, and most
judgments and changes behavior
important characteristic of the learner.
in light of new evidence. Values
Instructional objectives are concerned with
people for what they are, not how
the student's general patterns of
they look.
adjustment (personal, social, emotional).
Key Words: acts, discriminates,
displays, influences, modifies,
performs, qualifies, questions,
revises, serves, solves, verifies

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B l o o m ' s Ta xo n o my : T h e P s y c h o m o t o r
Domain
The psychomotor domain (Simpson, 1972) includes physical movement,
coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these
skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision,
distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. Thus, psychomotor
skills rage from manual tasks, such as digging a ditch or washing a car,
to more complex tasks, such as operating a complex piece of
machinery or dancing.

The seven major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the
most complex:

Examp
le and
Categ Key
ory Words
(verbs
)

Perc Exa
epti mple
on s: 
(awa Detec
rene ts
ss): non-
The verba
abilit l
y to com
use muni
sens catio
ory n
cues cues.
to Estim
guid ate

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e motor activity.  This ranges from
sensory stimulation, through cue
selection, to translation.
where a ball will land after it is thrown
and then moving to the correct location
to catch the ball. Adjusts heat of stove
to correct temperature by smell and
taste of food. Adjusts the height of the
forks on a forklift by comparing where
the forks are in relation to the pallet.

Key Words: chooses, describes,

detects, differentiates, distinguishes,
identifies, isolates, relates, selects.

Examples:  Knows and acts upon a

Set: Readiness to act. It includes
mental, physical, and emotional
sets. These three sets are
dispositions that predetermine a
person's response to different
situations (sometimes called
mindsets).
sequence of steps in a manufacturing
process. Recognize one's abilities and
limitations. Shows desire to learn a
new process (motivation). NOTE: This
subdivision of Psychomotor is closely
related with the “Responding to
phenomena” subdivision of the
Affective domain.
Key Words: begins, displays, explains,
moves, proceeds, reacts, shows,
states, volunteers.

Examples:  Performs a mathematical

equation as demonstrated. Follows
Guided Response: The early stages
instructions to build a model. Responds
in learning a complex skill that
hand-signals of instructor while
includes imitation and trial and error.
learning to operate a forklift.
Adequacy of performance is
achieved by practicing.
Key Words: copies, traces, follows,
react, reproduce, responds

Mechanism (basic proficiency): Examples:  Use a personal

This is the intermediate stage in computer. Repair a leaking faucet.
learning a complex skill. Learned Drive a car.
responses have become habitual
and the movements can be Key Words: assembles, calibrates,

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 constructs, dismantles, displays,
performed with some confidence and
fastens, fixes, grinds, heats,
proficiency.
manipulates, measures, mends, mixes,
organizes, sketches.

Examples:  Maneuvers a car into a

Complex Overt Response (Expert): tight parallel parking spot. Operates a
The skillful performance of motor computer quickly and accurately.
acts that involve complex movement Displays competence while playing the
patterns. Proficiency is indicated by piano.
a quick, accurate, and highly
coordinated performance, requiring Key Words: assembles, builds,
a minimum of energy. This category calibrates, constructs, dismantles,
includes performing without displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats,
hesitation, and automatic manipulates, measures, mends, mixes,
performance. For example, players organizes, sketches.
are often utter sounds of satisfaction
or expletives as soon as they hit a NOTE: The Key Words are the same as
tennis ball or throw a football, Mechanism, but will have adverbs or
because they can tell by the feel of adjectives that indicate that the
the act what the result will produce. performance is quicker, better, more
accurate, etc.

Adaptation: Skills are well
developed and the individual can
modify movement patterns to fit
special requirements.
Examples:  Responds effectively to
unexpected experiences.  Modifies
instruction to meet the needs of the
learners. Perform a task with a
machine that it was not originally
intended to do (machine is not
damaged and there is no danger in
performing the new task).

Key Words: adapts, alters, changes,

rearranges, reorganizes, revises,
varies.

Origination: Creating new Examples:  Constructs a new theory.

movement patterns to fit a particular Develops a new and comprehensive
situation or specific problem. training programming. Creates a new

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 gymnastic routine.
Learning outcomes emphasize
Key Words: arranges, builds,
creativity based upon highly
combines, composes, constructs,
developed skills.
creates, designs, initiate, makes,
originates.

Other Psychomotor Domain Taxonomies

As mentioned earlier, the committee did not produce a compilation for
the psychomotor domain model, but others have. The one discussed
above is by Simpson (1972). There are two other popular versions by
Dave (1970) and Harrow (1972):

Dave (1975):

Category Example and Key Words (verbs)

Examples: Copying a work of art. Performing

Imitation — Observing and
a skill while observing a demonstrator.
patterning behavior after
someone else. Performance
Key Words: copy, follow, mimic, repeat,
may be of low quality.
replicate, reproduce, trace

Examples: Being able to perform a skill on

Manipulation — Being able to
perform certain actions by
memory or following
instructions.
one's own after taking lessons or reading
about it. Follows instructions to build a
model.
Key Words: act, build, execute, perform

Examples:  Working and reworking

something, so it will be “just right.” Perform a
Precision — Refining,
skill or task without assistance. Demonstrate
becoming more exact.
a task to a beginner.
Performing a skill within a high
degree of precision
Key Words: calibrate, demonstrate, master,
perfectionism

Articulation — Coordinating Examples: Combining a series of skills to

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and adapting a series of
actions to achieve harmony
and internal consistency.
Naturalization — Mastering a
high level performance until it
become second-nature or
natural, without needing to
think much about it.
Harrow (1972):
Category
Reflex Movements — Reactions
that are not learned, such as a
involuntary reaction
Fundamental Movements —
Basic movements such as walking,
or grasping.
Perceptual Abilities — Response
to stimuli such as visual, auditory,
kinesthetic, or tactile
discrimination.
Physical Abilities (fitness) —
Stamina that must be developed
for further development such as
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produce a video that involves music, drama,
color, sound, etc. Combining a series of skills
or activities to meet a novel requirement.
Key Words: adapt, constructs, combine,
creates, customize, modifies, formulate
Examples:  Maneuvers a car into a tight
parallel parking spot. Operates a computer
quickly and accurately. Displays competence
while playing the piano. Michael Jordan
playing basketball or Nancy Lopez hitting a
golf ball.
Key Words: create, design, develop, invent,
manage, naturally
Example and Key Words (verbs)
Examples:  instinctive response
Key Words: react, respond
Examples:  perform a simple task
Key Words: grasp an object, throw a
ball, walk
Examples:  track a moving object,
recognize a pattern
Key Words: catch a ball, draw or write
Examples:  gain strength, run a
marathon
 strength and agility.
Key Words: agility, endurance, strength

Examples:  Using an advanced series of

Skilled movements — Advanced
learned movements as one would
find in sports or acting.
integrated movements, perform a role in
a stage play or play in a set of series in
a sports game.
Key Words: adapt, constructs, creates,
modifies

Examples:  Express one's self by using

Nondiscursive communication —
movements and gestures
Use effective body language, such
as gestures and facial
Key Words: arrange, compose,
expressions.
interpretation 

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