Re: HH Goddard and "Moron"

Christopher D. Green Wed, 01 Sep 2004 13:46:21 -0700

Stuart Mckelvie wrote:

I am not sure that this [my claim that Goddard invented the word "moron"] is entirely correct. According to Edward (1971), the terms "idiot","imbecile", and "moron" were used historidally before Binet to indicate the lowest grade of intelligence, very low and subnormal just below normal respectively.

I got this "fact" (if it is indeed one) from the Vineland Training School site at http://www.vineland.org/history/trainingschool/fastfacts/fastfacts.html. When I read it, I felt I was being reminded of it from a number of from a number of earlier places (probably mainly from S. J. Gould). I also believe there is a longish segment in the popular documentary, "Stupidity" (2002?) in which they go around Vinelad asking people on the street if the knew that the term "moron" was invented there.

But why rely on mere memory? When in doubt, go to the OED, which says:

[< ancient Greek

, neuter of

, (Attic)

foolish, stupid (further etymology uncertain: a connection with Sanskrit mra foolish, stupid, is now generally rejected). Perh. cf. earlier MORIA n.
Ancient Greek

is used as a noun in the sense ‘folly’, but is not used to denote a person (the neuter usually represents inanimate categories).]

1. Psychol. A person with mild mental retardation (spec. with an IQ of between 50 and 70). Now somewhat arch. and offensive.
The term was first adopted and given this meaning by the American Association for the Study of the Feeble-minded in 1910. It is now generally avoided in technical contexts due to its association with sense 2.

1910 H. H. GODDARD Let. 29 Apr. in Jrnl. Psycho-asthenics Sept.-Dec. 65 The other (suggestion) is to call them [sc. feeble-minded children] by the Greek word ‘moron’. It is defined as one who is lacking in intelligence, one who is deficient in judgement or sense. 1912 H. H. GODDARD Kallikak Family 54 The type of feeblemindedness of which we are speaking is the one to which Deborah belongs, that is, to the high grade, or moron. 1926 Chicago Tribune 28 Jan. 14/1 Legislation to provide for a moron colony has the support of County Judge Edmund K. Jarecki. 1937 C. L. BURT Subnormal Mind (rev. ed.) ii. 102 All through their years of training, most of them [sc. social workers and teachers] had never, to their certain knowledge, set eyes on a moron or an imbecile. 1968 W. B. STEPHENS tr. B. Inhelder Diagnosis of Reasoning in Mentally Retarded ii. 72 The normal child of seven, the moron of twelve, or even the imbecile assimilates an enormous number of varied experiences. 1999 Encycl. Brit. Online (Version 99.1) s.v. mental retardation, Retardation is classified according to severity. The once standard labelsmoron, imbecile, and idiothave been abolished.

There are some later attributions as well. In addition, there is a separate entry for "moron" meaning a kind of salamander.

Regards,
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
fax: 416-736-5814
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
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