At the i2 User & Training Conference (UTC) Europe 2024, earlier this year, Nadia Tuominen led a transformative session on Inference Development, bridging the gap between human cognition and cutting-edge technology. During a fully- subscribed session, participants took part in logical reasoning exercises and practical activities. The session highlighted the importance of structuring thought processes to identify risks and distill meaning from complex information.
Nadia’s latest blog reflects on how understanding and improving our thinking skills can enhance decision-making, elevate team performance, and foster personal growth.
‘’I wasn’t sure how a session on Inference Development would be received at a tech-focused conference, but a full house of engaged participants soon set me right. We spent over 2 hours fully absorbed in logical reasoning, inference pyramids, and an intense practical exercise inviting participants to distil meaning from an overload of information riddled with cognitive traps. The discussion and feedback afterwards showed it to have been a valuable exercise, causing attendees to think more deeply about the ways in which those internal cogs turn when moving from information to assessment, and being more alive to risk that can sometimes hide in plain sight.
And that’s the beauty of the i2 Group, who invited me to host this session at their i2 User & Training Conference (UTC) Europe 2024 this September; they value the human factor as much as the technological, and encourage both their staff and their customers to invest in and develop those intangible cognitive skills.
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Although software can sometimes be difficult to keep up with as technology continues to steam ahead, it typically comes with User Guides, Release Notes for updates, and a handy little ‘help’ button if you get stuck. You learn about what the software can do, how to navigate it, and which things to click in which order to help you achieve your desired outcome. Our brains, on the other hand, despite executing calculations, synthesising information, and drawing conclusions, don’t really come with a guide or manual. Analysts and investigators alike are simply expected to do all these things, relying on their inherent and instinctive abilities, with little or no training as to the inner workings of their minds. And whilst some of us do possess formidable inherent and instinctive abilities, learning a little more about these inner workings can improve and fortify these skills.
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Understanding your cognitive ability is often a multi-disciplinary feat, rooted in philosophy, biology, neuroscience, and psychology. Whilst we deploy our thinking skills every day and usually have a feel for what’s helpful and what’s not, looking at the underpinning science can help you understand not just what works, but how, and why. It can help us work more confidently and safely. We can use psychological studies of working memory to develop a structure, climbing a ladder of factual progression towards an inference. Or philosophical theories of reasoning, to alert us to the importance of using this ladder, and not committing the risky move of leapfrogging from information straight to inference. Of increasing importance are neuroscientific studies of sleep, exercise, and neurological disorders, collectively highlighting the importance of working smarter. Burning the midnight oil, running on little sleep and even less downtime is a recipe for cognitive downfall. Science, when you pull all the strands together, is literally telling us to spend more time on self-care for optimal cognitive functioning.
Some people scorn the idea of investing time and effort in developing our thinking skills. “We already know how to think, thank you very much.” But we also instinctively know how to walk, run, breathe, or lift something heavy off the floor. Yet we don’t mock the Olympic athletes who study and hone some or all of these often inherent abilities to take them to their maximum potential.
As the year draws to a close, and we take the time to contemplate what lies ahead in 2025, I would invite everyone to make even a small commitment to exploring the way our brains work. Invest in yourself, challenge yourself to up your thinking game. Given the inextricable links between wellbeing and cognitive ability, it may just impact your life more positively than you might imagine. ‘’
At i2, we believe that innovation isn’t just about technology—it’s about supporting people to think critically and solve complex problems. Nadia’s session on Inference Development at our UTC Europe 2024 brought this vision to life, equipping participants with tools to enhance their reasoning and decision-making. By fostering these skills alongside our advanced solutions, we’re committed to supporting our users in tackling today’s challenges with confidence, clarity, and precision.
Nadia is a Senior Lecturer in Police Practice at Brunel University, with a background in Criminal Intelligence Analysis & Investigations across policing, sports integrity, and the financial sector.
Aside from her continued passion for Intelligence Analysis, Nadia’s main interests are Thinking Skills and Well-being, in particular the neuroscientific footprint of and symbiosis between the two.
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