latency period

latency period

n.

1. 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.

2. A latent period.

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latency period

n

(Psychoanalysis) Psychoanal a period according to Freud, from the age of about five to puberty, when sexual interest is diminished

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

latency period - (psychoanalysis) the fourth period (from about age 5 or 6 until puberty) during which sexual interests are supposed to be sublimated into other activities latency phase, latency stage depth psychology, psychoanalysis, analysis - a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud; "his physician recommended psychoanalysis" childhood - the time of person's life when they are a child phase, stage - any distinct time period in a sequence of events; "we are in a transitional stage in which many former ideas must be revised or rejected"