A Rescorla-Wagner Drift-Diffusion Model of Conditioning and Timing

Computational models of classical conditioning have made significant contributions to the theoretic understanding of associative learning, yet they still struggle when the temporal aspects of conditioning are taken into account. Interval timing models have contributed a rich variety of time representations and provided accurate predictions for the timing of responses, but they usually have little to say about associative learning. In this article we present a unified model of conditioning and timing that is based on the influential Rescorla-Wagner conditioning model and the more recently developed Timing Drift-Diffusion model. We test the model by simulating 10 experimental phenomena and show that it can provide an adequate account for 8, and a partial account for the other 2. We argue that the model can account for more phenomena in the chosen set than these other similar in scope models: CSC-TD, MS-TD, Learning to Time and Modular Theory. A comparison and analysis of the mechanisms in these models is provided, with a focus on the types of time representation and associative learning rule used

Mechanistic insight into pyrene removal by natural sepiolites

This paper investigates the sorption characteristics and mechanisms of pyrene onto two types of natural sepiolite -brown (B-Sep) and white (W-Sep). The effects of relevant properties such as clay content, surface area, pore diameter and volume, divalent cations and organic carbon content were investigated by single component batch adsorption systems. The results suggest that pyrene has high affinity for both sepiolite and its sorption behaviour could be mainly affected by exchangeable strongly hydrated cations such as Ca2+ and H2O in the zeolite-like channels and by open channel defects (OCD) structures but no so much by the large number of Si-OH groups located on the sepiolite's basal surfaces. Mesoporosity rather than surface area largely controls the sorption capacity and intensity of both sepiolites. This is shown by the increase in pore volume that exhibited the greatest increase in BET surface area. Particle size and morphological changes of both sepiolites following pyrene adsorption determined by FE-SEM showed that the sepiolite fibers are much longer than their widths, which are only several laths (several nanometres). This is a result of growth, mostly along the c-axis, at the expense of the diffusion of pyrene molecules through aqueous solution. As a consequence, a significant fibrous morphology is produced following the adsorption of pyrene by both sepiolites