What is a moron?

Doll, Edgar A.

doi:10.1037/h0063141

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This viewpoint is neither new nor startling. It is the traditional concept which dates back at least to the British Royal Commission of 1900, and its most prominent current exponent is probably Doll (2,3,4), who refers to it as a symptom-complex definition. The difficulty with the clinical application of this concept is the problem of what constitutes mental subnormality, and on this point Doll has never provided a completely satisfactory explanation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

"A rigorous criterion of feeblemindedness": a critique.

Cassel¹

1951

The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A .THOUGH critiques of scientific publications have long been thought to be of value, critical reviews of articles on the concept of feeblemindedness are seldom found in the more recent literature. Recently, this journal published an important contribution by Jastak (5) entitled, "A Rigorous Criterion of Feeblemindedness." It is believed, however, that the full significance of this article might not have been immediately apparent and that a critique would be of value.Jastak emphasizes the viewpoint that a diagnosis of feeblemindedness is warranted only when the subject's psychometric scores, representing a large number of different abilities, are in every case below the second or third percentile for persons of the subject's sex and age. He holds that the diagnosis should be entirely dependent on these psychometric scores. The purposes of this critique are: (a) to point out that other characteristics of the feebleminded were clearly implied in Jastak's article, (b) to show the relationship of these other criteria to the psychometric criterion, and (c) to discuss the significance of the psychometric criterion for a more inclusive concept of feeblemindedness.At the outset Jastak expresses alarm at the many follow-up studies on the paroled feebleminded which report these individuals to be living apparently normal community lives and earning a livelihood. Clearly, the implication here is that the feebleminded cannot do these things. Later in the article Jastak states (p. 376), "The truly feebleminded, as this writer has known them, consistently fail to manage their affairs with ordinary prudence. They fail to attain average economic competence by a wide margin." Obviously Jastak believes that the feebleminded are socially incompetent. Since he states that they never achieve social competence, he also believes that feeblemindedness is essentially incurable.In summary, Jastak states that the feebleminded are mentally subnormal and clearly implies that they are socially incompetent and that this condition is essentially incurable. Of course, there is no doubt that this condition is also developmental, i.e., it is amentia and not dementia. A synthesis of Jastak's concept of feeblemindedness as expressed in this

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

"A rigorous criterion of feeblemindedness": a critique.

Cassel¹

1951

The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, in respect to the diagnosis of mental deficiency we assume the reader is familiar with the necessity for employing multiple criteria (Doll, 1941(Doll, , 1948 and establishing etiology (Doll, 1946). Such issues are here subordinated to the more immediate intention of relating the Social Scale technique to other features of casework.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical Integration.

Doll¹

The Measurement of Social Competence: A Manual for the Vineland Social Maturity Scale.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Behavior patterns are not catastrophic, sudden, unrelated, induced by parental ambition. They are adumbrations, expectations, culminations, dropped from the fingers of yesterday. The child grows up slowly, consistently, quietly. Nature, in its steady stretch toward maturation, is not pushed from without so much as pulled from within. Nature does not see the goal with opera glasses and then push up hill to reach it. Nature is fertile in pauses, creative in silences, and would not attempt to change a demure violet into a stately lily just to be in the mode. -Beatrice Chandler Gesell.

show abstract

What is a moron?

Cited by 2 publications

References 13 publications

"A rigorous criterion of feeblemindedness": a critique.

"A rigorous criterion of feeblemindedness": a critique.

Clinical Integration.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About