# Materials ## State Inventory of Social Curiosity (SISC) The pictures used for the SISC can be found in the SISC folder [here][1]. The following instruction was given at the start of the task: *In this part of the study you will see photos and descriptions of various people. After looking at the photo and reading the description, you will be asked to answer 3 questions about that person. There are no right or wrong answers, we are only interested in your genuine opinion.* Each photo was presented with the following instruction and 3 items with 7-point scales (1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree): *Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements about the person whose profile you have just seen. As a reminder we have included their profile again at the bottom of this page.* 1. I would like to learn more about this person. 2. I am curious about this person's opinions. 3. I wonder what this person's life story is. ## Social Curiosity Scale (Renner, 2006) | Item no. | Subscale | Item | |--|--|--| |1|General|When I meet a new person, I am interested in learning more about him/her.| |2|General|I'm interested in people.| |3|General|I find it fascinating to get to know new people.| |4|General|I like to learn about the habits of others.| |5|General|I like finding out how others "work."| |6|Covert|When other people are having a conversation, I like to find out what it's about.| |7|Covert|When on the train, I like listening to other people's conversations.| |8|Covert|Every so often I like to stand at the window and watch what my neighbors are doing.| |9|Covert|I like to look into other people's lit windows.| |10|Covert|When people quarrel, I like to know what's going on.| ## Texts The texts we used can be found in the [Qualtrics Survey][2]. ## Comprehension Questions The following questions were used to check whether participants paid sufficient attention during reading. The first answer after each question is the correct answer. ### The Hidden Life of Trees What mechanism do trees not use to communicate and protect themselves according to the text? - Color - Scent compounds - Toxins - Electrical signals What evidence did Dr. Monica Gagliano find for sound wave communication by trees? - Grain seedling roots directed their tips to the sound of other roots crackling at 220 Hz - Oak trees synchronized the vibration of their leaves - Elm trees released scent compounds when played the sound of beetles - The roots of birch seedlings grew faster when the sound of rain was played What is the “wood wide web”? - The fungal connections between the roots of multiple trees - A group of trees that communicates with each other by means of scent - The cluster of roots belonging to a single tree - The crown of a tree ### Potato: A Global History What was the potatogate about? - Dan Quayle misspelled potato when he was a host at a spelling bee - George W. Bush mistakenly thought that French fries were an American invention - Someone threw a potato at Dan Quayle during the Quayle-Bush campaign - George W. Bush refused to eat the potatoes he was served during a visit to US troops in Iraq Why was the Mr. Potato toy set changed to include a plastic potato according to the text? - Because playing with a real potato was seen as wasteful - Because around that time real potatoes were hard to come by because of a failed harvest - Because the corporation that made Mr. Potato Head was afraid that children would use real potatoes that were too small and therefore could pose a choking hazard - So the coporation that made Mr. Potato Head could make the product more expensive To what people did the English refer with the term ‘potato heads’? - The Irish - The Australians - The Hungarians - The Dutch ### Prisons Make Us Safer And 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration How much of the prison population of the world is in the US? - 25% - 15% - 5% - 1% Around what time did imprisonment as punishment begin in the US? - Around the 1770s - Around the 1500s - After World War II - After the Civil War Who tweeted “Mass incarceration makes our entire country worse off, and we need to do something about it”? - Barack Obama - Angela Davis - Donald Trump - Ronald Reagan ### Buzz, Sting, Bite When did insects develop? - 479 million years ago - 103 million years ago - 3 billion years ago - 2 million years ago What is the heaviest insect? - The Goliath Beetle - The Elephant Caterpillar - The Super Centipede - The Yellow Mealworm Which statement is true? - Insects were the first animals to develop wings - Insects and dinosaurs developed wings around the same time - Insects developed wings after the dinosaurs had already developed wings - Birds were the first animals to develop wings ### The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo What is the name of the magazine that Monique works for? - Vivant - Flair - Foundation - Tina What is the story about that Monique is most proud of? - Physician-assisted suicide - Domestic violence - The AIDS epidemic - Hollywood What did Monique do before her current job? - Write for a website, covering trending topics and opinion pieces - Work as a freelance photographer - Work as a jewelry designer - Work as a social worker ### The Paris Apartment How are Ben and Jess related? - Jess is Ben’s half-sister - Jess is Ben’s girlfriend - Jess is Ben’s niece - Jess is Ben’s mother At what time of day does Jess arrive at Ben’s place? - Near midnight - Around 6 a.m. - Around noon - In the early evening What was Ben doing before Jess arrived? - Smoking a cigarette - Writing a letter - Watching TV - Working out ### The House in the Cerulean Sea What is Daisy’s magical power? - She can make things float - She can make things disappear - She can change into any animal - She can make herself invisible Why does Linus visit the orphanage? - Because he needs to carry out an investigation there - Because he wants to visit his niece, Daisy - Because he’s in charge of all orphanages in the country - Because he’s a remedial teacher for magic youth What did Daisy do to Marcus? - She threw a chair at him - She stole his biscuits - She bit his tail - She made fun of him ### The Personal Librarian What university does Belle work at? - Princeton University - Oxford University - Harvard University - University of Leicester What collection do Belle and mr. Morgan visit together? - The works of Virgil - The works of Shakespeare - The works of Charles Dickens - The works of Plato What is Belle’s job? - She is a librarian. - She is a professor. - She is a secretary. - She is a banker. [1]: https://osf.io/6uw7d/files [2]: https://osf.io/6uw7d/files/osfstorage/63877409a98e5f27bc10351f