The use of cognitive taxonomies in licensure and certification test development: reasonable or customary?

This research addressed the functioning of a cognitive taxonomy within the test specifications of a health sciences certification examination. The research investigated whether test items written purposefully to assess the higher order cognitive processes provided evidence of assessing differing levels of cognitive processing. Overall, the results yielded no support for the continuing use of a hierarchical cognitive classification dimension for the test specifications. Implications of the research for test specifications development, test construction, item writing, and score reporting are presented. Limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.