Definition
An emotionally frigid mother, who does not exhibit normal care or love for her child or children.
In Context
- "It was not until 1943 that Dr. Leo Kanner, an American pschiatrist, first diagnosed the syndrome in 11 children. . . . Kanner and others once postulated that these children were the products of "refrigerator mothers," women who are overly cold and intellectual."
- "No present-day researcher takes the idea of the refrigerator mother as the cause of autism seriously."