(Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis) According to this model, individuals who have mental disorders have irrational thinking as opposed to maladaptive behaviours (such as in the behavioural model).

According to this model, individuals with mental disorders, possess maladaptive forms of behaviour which have been learnt. Most of this learning takes the form of classical/operant conditioning (see below).

Psychoanalytic theory: Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is the best known example and has probably been the most influential person in clinical psychology. His view was that mental illness did not have a physical origin, but instead arises out of unresolved unconscious conflicts, which form in early childhood. Freud argued that the mind is split into 3 parts:

This approach contends that "Abnormal behaviours result from physical problems and should be treated medically’’

There are 3 main ways used by psychologists to descibe 'abnormalities' effectively: Deviation from Social Norms, Failure to Function Adequately and Deviation from Ideal Mental Health

Social impact theory, put forward by Deutsch and Gerard (1955), explains that conformity is the result of : the need for information caused by a degree of uncertainty (called Informational conformity) or the presures to comply to a group/person (called Normative conformity).

They carried out a natural experiment studying 65 children bought up in a children's home until the age of 4. During this time the children were unable to form an attachment to any of the adults as staff were discouraged from doing so to prevent upsetting the children when they left the job.

Mary and Louise were sisters who were tied to a bed with dog leads and had blankets put over them to prevent them from making noise. They were found when Louise was 3.5 years old and Mary was 2.5 years.