We introduced voluntary wiki-based exercises to a long-running cognitive psychology course, part of the core curriculum for an undergraduate degree in psychology. Over 2 yearly cohorts, students who used the wiki more also scored higher on the final written exam. Using regression analysis, it is possible to account for students' tendency to score well on other psychology exams, thus statistically removing some obvious candidate third factors, such as general talent or enthusiasm for psychology, which might drive this correlation. Such an analysis shows that both high-and low-grading students who used the wiki got higher scores on the final exam, with engaged wiki users scoring an average of an extra 5 percentage points. We offer an interpretation of the mechanisms of action in terms of the psychological literature on learning and memory.

Polls conducted in the United Kingdom following the Fukushima nuclear accident (March 2011) indicated a fairly muted and temporary shift in public approval of nuclear power. This study investigated how: (a) comparative preferences for nuclear power in the United Kingdom might have been affected by the accident; and (b) how “supporters” of nuclear power reconciled their pro‐nuclear attitude in the wake of the disaster. Between‐subjects comparisons with a pre‐Fukushima sample revealed our post‐Fukushima sample to have comparable preferences for nuclear power. Further analysis suggested that “supporters” retained their pro‐nuclear stance in response to Fukushima by emphasizing the necessity of nuclear power in the U.K. context. The theoretical, practical and methodological implications for these findings are discussed.

In this work, two objectives were addressed. First, the visual aesthetics assessment of the workplace was explored for the first time as a potential antecedent of the proactive behaviors of job crafting. Second, the potential mediating role of the affective organizational commitment in this relationship was analyzed. To address these purposes, a field study was conducted with a sample of 428 workers. Following a set of hypotheses, the results of the measurement model, χ2(df) = 494.288 (215);CFI= .920;TLI= .906;RMSEA= .066, showed that the visual aesthetics assessment of the workplace was significantly correlated with three of the four dimensions of job crafting (r= .19 with ISO-JR,r= .15 with IC-JD and;r= .17 with IST-JR;p< .001) and with affective organizational commitment (r= .27,p< .001). In addition, through a structural equation model, χ2(df) = 494.895 (219);CFI= .921;TLI= .909;RMSEA= .065, positive and significant indirect effects were found from the visual aesthetic assessment of the workplace to the same three dimensions of job crafting, all through the affective organizational commitment: .17 with ISO-JR, .25 with IC-JD and, .23 with IST-JR; 95%CI[.097, .276], [.161, .361] and [.161, .361], respectively. The results obtained provide useful evidence for researchers and managers about the value of providing an aesthetically satisfactory workplace, which would enhance the affective commitment of employees and, consequently, positively affect the proactive behaviors of job crafting.

The object of the present reserach was to assess the psychometric properties of the Food Buying Styles Scale (Escala de Estilos de Compra de Alimentos – EEC-ALI) based on the Buying Styles Scale adapted by Denegri, Peñaloza, Elgueta and Sepúlveda (unpublished manuscript). This scale assesses planning, impulsiveness and compulsiveness with regards to food buying behavior. The sample consisted of 369 university students, male and female, from northern, central and southern Chile. We examined reliability and validity indicators. The analyses showed that the scale has appropriate psychometric properties, suggesting that the instrument is adequate for its use in the analysis of food buying styles in young people and specifically university students.