In the context of middle childhood, explain Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality. Do Erikson's views on middle childhood contradict those of Freud?

Answers will vary. According to Freud, children in the middle years are in the latency stage. Freud believed that sexual feelings remain repressed (unconscious) during this period. Children use this period to focus on developing intellectual, social, and other culturally valued skills. Erik Erikson, like Freud, saw the major developmental task of middle childhood as the acquisition of cognitive and social skills. Erikson labeled this stage industry versus inferiority. Children who are able to master the challenges of the middle years develop a sense of industry or competence. Children who have difficulties in school or with peer relationships may develop a sense of inferiority.