Final answer:
Levinson's theory indicates a pre-adulthood period that precedes four main eras of psychosocial development, involving significant transitions and changing life structures throughout a person's life.
Step-by-step explanation:
Levinson believed that there were four eras through which men and women pass and that they are preceded by a 'pre-adulthood' period. The subsequent stages include adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood, wherein individuals experience transitions and 'seasons' of life that involve reassessments and realignments of one's life structure. This theoretical framework considers the lifespan with regards to psychosocial development, considering changes in self-concept and external structures in one's life.
The latency period mentioned in the context of psychosexual development refers to a time when sexual impulses are dormant, and children are more focused on non-sexual pursuits such as school and hobbies, marking a key point in their developmental stages. In contrast, to phases of geologic time which are broken down into eons, eras, and periods, human psychosocial development is seen as a continuum that also makes accommodations for social changes and rites of passage as mentioned by Arnold van Gennep.