Moron is a term once used in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior.
...
to denote mild
intellectual disability
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...
.
[Rafter, Nicole Hahn (1998). ''Creating Born Criminals.'' University of Illinois Press, ] 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, ] 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.
Origin and uses
"Moron" was coined in 1910 by psychologist
Henry H. Goddard[Trent, James W. Jr. (2017). ''Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Intellectual Disability in the United States''. Oxford University Press, ] from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
word ''
μωρός'' (''moros''), which meant "dull" and used to describe a person with a mental age in adulthood of between 7 and 10 on the
Binet scale.
[.] It was once applied to people with an
intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. Originally, IQ was a score obtained by dividing a person's mental age score, obtained by administering ...
(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
The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States, and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses, deficiencies of the mind, and disabilities.
At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed a ...
", 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, ]
In the obsolete medical classification (
ICD-9
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used medical classification that is used in epidemiology, health management and clinical diagnosis. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the direc ...
, 1977), morons and feeble-minded persons were said to have "mild
mental retardation
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...
", "mild mental
subnormality" or "high-grade defect" with IQ in the range 50–70.
Following opposition to Goddard's attempts to popularize his ideas,
[Goddard, Henry H. Who Is a Moron? '']The Scientific Monthly
''The Scientific Monthly'' was a science magazine published from 1915 to 1957. Psychologist James McKeen Cattell, the former publisher and editor of '' The Popular Science Monthly'', was the original founder and editor. In 1958, ''The Scientific M ...
'', 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, ]
See also
*
Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome
Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome (CIDS), also called cretinism, is a medical condition present at birth marked by impaired physical and mental development, due to insufficient thyroid hormone, thyroid hormone production (hypothyroidism) ofte ...
*
Eugenics in the United States
Eugenics, the set of beliefs and practices which aims at improving the Genetics, genetic quality of the human population, played a significant role in the history and culture of the United States from the late 19th century into the mid-20th c ...
*
Euphemism treadmill
A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moron (Psychology)
Intellectual disability
Obsolete medical terms
Slurs related to low intelligence
Obsolete terms for mental disorders
Pejorative terms for people with disabilities