moron (psychology)
{{Short description|Old term for mild intellectual disability}}
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Moron is a term once used in psychology and psychiatry to denote mild intellectual disability.Rafter, Nicole Hahn (1998). Creating Born Criminals. University of Illinois Press, {{ISBN|978-0-252-06741-9}} The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement.Black, Edwin (2004). War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race. Thunder's Mouth Press, {{ISBN|978-1-56858-321-1}} Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological term. It is similar to imbecile and idiot.{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history|title=The Clinical History of 'Moron,' 'Idiot,' and 'Imbecile'|publisher=merriam-webster.com}}
Origin and uses
"Moron" was coined in 1910 by psychologist Henry H. GoddardTrent, James W. Jr. (2017). Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Intellectual Disability in the United States. Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199396184}} from the Ancient Greek word μωρός (moros), which meant "dull"[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dmwro%2Fs μωρός], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library and used to describe a person with a mental age in adulthood of between 7 and 10 on the Binet scale.{{Citation |last1=Zaretsky |first1=Herbert H. |last2=Richter |first2=Edwin F. |last3=Eisenberg |first3=Myron G. |title=Medical aspects of disability: a handbook for the rehabilitation professional |edition=third edition, illustrated |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8261-7973-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7TZGYRu-_Y4C&pg=PA346 346] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TZGYRu-_Y4C}}. It was once applied to people with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 51–70, being superior in one degree to "imbecile" (IQ of 26–50) and superior in two degrees to "idiot" (IQ of 0–25). The word moron, along with others including "idiotic", "imbecilic", "stupid", and "feeble-minded", was formerly considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, but it is now deprecated in use by psychologists.Zenderland, Leila (2001). Measuring Minds: Henry Herbert Goddard and the Origins of American Intelligence Testing. Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-00363-6}}
In the obsolete medical classification (ICD-9, 1977), morons and feeble-minded persons were said to have "mild mental retardation", "mild mental subnormality" or "high-grade defect" with IQ in the range 50–70.{{cite book |author=World Health Organization |author-link=World Health Organization |title=Manual of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries, and Causes of Death |url=http://psychiatr.ru/download/1480?view=1&name=1336.pdf |location=Jeneva |page=212 |date=1977 |volume=1}}
Following opposition to Goddard's attempts to popularize his ideas,Goddard, Henry H. Who Is a Moron? The Scientific Monthly, Volume 24, Issue 1, pp. 41–46. Goddard recanted his earlier assertions about the moron: "It may still be objected that moron parents are likely to have imbecile or idiot children. There is not much evidence that this is the case. The danger is probably negligible."Chase, Allan (1977). The Legacy of Malthus: The Social Costs of the New Scientific Racism. Knopf/Random House, {{ISBN|978-0-394-48045-9}}
See also
References
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Category:Intellectual disability
Category:Obsolete medical terms
Category:Slurs related to low intelligence