latency period

latency period   n.   The fourth stage of psychosexual development in psychoanalytic theory, from about five years to puberty, during which a child apparently represses sexual urges and prefers to associate with members of the same sex. It is preceded by the phallic stage and followed by the genital stage. A latent 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.

Main Entry: latency period
Function: noun
1 : a stage of personality development that extends from about the age of five to the beginning of puberty and duringwhich sexual urges often appear to lie dormant called also latency
2 : LATENT PERIOD

latent period n.

1. The period elapsing between the application of a stimulus and the obvious response, such as the contraction of a muscle.

2. The interval between exposure to an infectious organism or a carcinogen and the clinical appearance of disease. Also called incubation period.

latent period   The interval between exposure to an infectious organism or a carcinogen and the appearance of symptoms or signs of disease. The period elapsing between the application of a stimulus and the expected response, such as the contraction of a muscle.