Moron is a controversial term once used in psychology to denote a category of mental retardation.^[1] The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement.^[2] Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community.

Origin and uses

"Moron" was coined in 1910 by psychologist Henry H. Goddard^[3] from the Greek word moros, which meant "dull" (as opposed to "sharp"), and used to describe a person with a mental age located between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale.^[4] It was once applied to people with an 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 "retarded", "idiotic", "imbecilic", "stupid", and "feeble-minded", was formerly considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, but it is now deprecated by psychologists.^[5]

Following opposition to Goddard's attempts to popularize his ideas,^[6] Goddard recanted his earlier claims 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."^[7]

References

See also

• euphemism treadmill

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