The Problem of Mental Retardation (A Tentative Working Hypothesis)

Within the general problem of mental retardation, the focus has traditionally been on the child's intellectual inadequacy, his feeblemindedness. This is entrenched in the very term used to designate these children, who are usually called feebleminded, or mentally retarded. All the other aspects of the personality of such a child are usually seen as phenomena arising secondarily as a function of the basic intellectual defect. Many investigators do not even see any essential affective and volitional differences between these children and normal children. …