This thesis investigated the differential effects of the medical and social learning models of mental disorders on the beliefs, attitudes, and stigma associated with alcoholism and depression. The beliefs and attitudes of 345 college students were manipulated through the use of six different video taped presentations so as to represent those associated with the medical, social learning, or control models. Analysis off subjects' responses on a questionnaire indicated the medical model to foster the perception of greater severity, less control over behavior, less understanding of the disorder, and a greater need for intervention, compared to the social learning and control models. There was no advantage to the medical model in terms of the stigma associated with the disorders. An unexpected finding was that alcoholism was generally stigmatized to a lesser degree than depression, regardless of the model in which the disorders were presented. Results were discussed in terms of previous research.