Moron is a term once used in psychology
to denote mild intellectual disability.
The term was closely tied with the
American eugenics movement. 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.
Origin and uses
"Moron" was coined in 1910 by
psychologist Henry H. Goddard from the
Ancient Greek word μωρός, which meant
"dull"), and used to describe a person
with a mental age in adulthood of
between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It
was once applied to people with an IQ of
51–70, being superior in one degree to
"imbecile" and superior in two degrees
to "idiot". 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.
Following opposition to Goddard's
attempts to popularize his ideas,
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."
See also
Euphemism treadmill
References
