9407357 Jakob In order to gain insight into how social behavior evolves, we must understand how individuals decide whether or not to join a group. Dr. Jakob has chosen a model system to study in which the species is facultatively social. This means that individuals live in groups at some time while at other times live alone. Dr. Jakob will examine the decision-making process of this species at four levels. First, she will determine the stimuli that evoke social behavior. Second, Dr. Jakob will examine the effect of the animal's state, particularly its energy level, on responsiveness to those stimuli that evoke social behavior. Third, she will study the development of the behavior over an individual's lifespan. Finally, this work will ultimately lead to identifying those factors the affect the evolution of sociality.
