One functional magnetic resonance machine is hard at work, hoping to help answer some complex questions.
"We want to know when do people decide to give? When do they decide not to give, and what parts of the brain are involved in those decisions?" Russell James, an assistant professor in the financial planning at Texas Tech, said.
He wants to know more about the science behind making our financial decisions. The fMRI machine scans a brain to see which parts are engaged as we make these choices.
"We can see when people are being logical and rational and we can see when they're being emotional," James said.
His specialty is learning about charitable giving, and he says there are a number of reasons someone may choose to spend money on good will.
"The decision is much more complex than you might think because every charitable decision involves lots of different choices and reasons why we might want to give or not want to give. It could be because they know the people there, they care about the cause that the group has, some for tax benefits, maybe some for prestige," James said.
He says we're seeing an increase in people donating to charity over the past several years. About 85 percent of us give in some form right now. Russell thinks this project can shed light on other aspects of money matters, like how fear plays into an investor's decision concerning Wall Street.
"If we understand more about how those decisions are made, then we'll be able to anticipate those things and hopefully advise clients in a way that will benefit them from the ups and downs of the market," James said.
And from the mess of the last few years, he has plenty of data to examine.
