ABSTRACT
The term latency refers to two distinct psychological entities. First, there is the state of latency. This is a behavioral state of calm, pliability, and cooperativeness, which makes education possible. It is maintained by a specific group of ego functions, the “structure of latency.” This is the organization of ego functions, specific for the age period of latency, which provide discharge of drive through fantasy and symbol formation. It provides a pathway for an autoplastic response to frustration. It provides a conduit for the transmission of culture to the child. It presages realistic future planning as it appears in adolescence (Sarnoff, 1976). Through the structure of latency, distracting stirrings of drives are quieted.
