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I Had No Idea That Idiot, Imbecile, and Moron were Clinical Terms
It’s hard to believe we thought ‘mentally retarded’ was better
Idiot, Imbecile, and Moron
Which one of the three words listed above have you used recently? Did you really know what you were saying when you called someone that.
Personally, I’m more likely to call someone an idiot than any of the other words. Moron would be next. I’m highly unlikely to call anyone an imbecile.
Clinical Terms
I had no idea that these words were clinical terms. They were used in a psychological classification system, and each one described a particular range of development.
Idiots. — Those so defective that their mental development never exceeds that of a normal child of about two years.
Imbeciles. — Those whose development is higher than that of an idiot, but whose intelligence does not exceed that of a normal child of about seven years.
Morons. — Those whose mental development is above that of an imbecile, but does not exceed that of a normal child of about twelve years.
— Edmund Burke Huey, Backward and Feeble-Minded Children, 1912
