latency period
noun
Psychoanalysis.
the stage of personality development, extending from about four or five years of age to the beginning of puberty, during which sexual urges appear to lie dormant.
Pathology.
latent period(def 1).
Origin of latency period
First recorded in 1905–10
Words nearby latency period
lateen-rigged,
lateenrigged,
lately,
laten,
latency,
latency period,
latensify,
latent,
latent allergy,
latent ambiguity,
latent content
British Dictionary definitions for latency period
latency period
noun
psychoanal
a period according to Freud, from the age of about five to puberty, when sexual interest is diminished
Cultural definitions for latency period
latency period
[ (layt-n-see) ]
According to psychoanalysis, the period in a child's development, from about age four to about age twelve, during which sexual drives are sublimated (see sublimation). Psychoanalytic theory holds that all other stages of a child's development (the anal stage, the oral stage, the genital stage or the Oedipus complex stage, and puberty) are dominated by the gratification of primarily sexual drives. During the latency period, children generally identify with the parent of the same sex and play with other children of the same sex.