Keynote speakers and awards

Wim De Neys

Wim De Neys is a cognitive psychologist and Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the LaPsyDÉ lab at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. His research investigates the mechanisms underlying reasoning, decision making, and intuition, with a particular emphasis on dual-process theories of thinking. He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Leuven and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto and the University of California, Santa Barbara. De Neys has published over 100 scientific papers focusing on advancing our understanding of dual-process models of human thought.

Fast and Slow thinking: Quo Vadis?

The two-headed, dual process view of human thinking has been very influential in the cognitive sciences. The core idea that thinking can be conceived as an interplay between a fast-intuitive and slower-deliberate process has inspired a wide range of psychologists, philosophers, and economists. However, despite the popularity of the dual process framework it faces multiple challenges. One key issue is that the precise interaction between intuitive and deliberate thought processes (or System 1 and 2, as they are often referred to) is not well understood. In my talk I will give an overview of recent advances and discuss broader implications for our view of human cognition and intelligence.

Grace Lordan

Dr Grace Lordan is an LSE professor, global public speaker and thought leader. She is the Founding Director of The Inclusion Initiative and the creator of the MSc in Behavioural Science at the LSE. Grace is an expert on labour market skills, building productive organisations, inclusive leadership, women’s progress in the workplace, the future of work and individual success.    
Grace served as an expert advisor to the UK government sitting on their skills and productivity board. She currently leads the £2 million ESRC funded diversity and productivity from education to work (DAPEW) project.  Her academic writings have been published in top international journals and she has written for the Financial Times, Fortune, Fast Company, MIT Sloan Management Review , Reuters and Harvard Business Review. Grace is a regular speaker, educator and advisor to blue chip finance and technology firms. 
Think Big, Take Small Steps and Build the Future you Want, is her first book. 

Dynamic Inclusion Negotiation: Bridging Formal Theory and Lived Experience

I introduce a formal theoretical model of inclusion-related decisions that frames employees’ responses to exclusion as strategic decisions in a repeated workplace game. In this model, individuals choose among four behaviors—Quiet, Dissent, Conform, and Quit—based on the expected utility of each action, with the payoff structure shaped by the level of leadership inclusivity. An inclusive leader alters these dynamics thereby shifting the organizational equilibrium from silence to voice.

Building on this model, a qualitative study of nearly 200 interviews provides empirical depth, revealing how these behaviors unfold as negotiated responses to marginalization. Participants described actively navigating inclusion through everyday choices: staying quiet to avoid backlash, dissenting to assert their perspectives, conforming to fit in, or ultimately quitting when other avenues failed. These narratives illuminate the psychological, social, and organizational tensions underpinning each response—speaking up can backfire, yet staying silent exacts its own costs. By synthesizing formal theory with rich lived experience, my findings portray inclusion as a dynamic, ongoing negotiation rather than a static state. The results underscore the transformative role of inclusive leadership in this process: leaders who foster psychological safety and truly hear diverse voices encourage a shift from passive silence to active voice. I will also demonstrate the link between organisational inclusion and macro level firm outcomes (stock returns and innovation). 

Pietro Pietrini

Pietro Pietrini, MD, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pisa Medical School as a Intern Fellow of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa in 1986, where he also obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience. He received his board-certification in Psychiatry from the University of Pisa Medical School. In 1989 he moved to the United States, where he spent over ten years first at the Laboratory of Neuroscience and then at the Cognitive Neuroscience Section of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,Maryland, working on the study of the brain bases of mental function in health and disease. In 2000, he was appointed as full-professor and Chair of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Pisa Medical School. In November 2015 he became Director of IMT School for Advanced Studies.

Are we really free? Novel insights from behavioral neuroscience

The factors that modulate human behavior have been a matter of consideration since the dawns of philosophical speculation. Indeed, over twenty-five hundred years ago, Plato concluded that “No one is willingly evil, but one can become evil for a bad disposition in his body and for a training without a true education; this is hideous for everyone and happens against his will (Plato, Timaeus, 86e). 

In the last few decades, the development of behavioral neuroscience has fostered the study of the biological and psychophysiological correlates that subtend the cognitive abilities required for decision-making processes, moral choices and social behavior. To what extent are we really free in our choices? Are we aware of the reasons and the motivations that underlie our acts and our decisions? To what extent can we control our impulses and do otherwise, as required by law in order for individuals to be considered responsible for their own’s acts? Overruling previous views that favored an almost absolute dominance of rational control in human behavior, results from recent research are unveiling the limitations and the pitfalls of human decision-making processes and behavior, with crucial implications for the understanding of human interactions at economic, financial and social levels as well as for the assessment of responsibility in the Court.

Maggie E. Toplak

Dr. Maggie Toplak is a Professor in the Clinical-Developmental Area of the Department of Psychology at York University. The focus of her research is on judgment, decision-making and rational thinking, including their associations with individual differences in cognitive abilities. Her research has been informed by using participants across the lifespan (including children, youth and adults) and with special populations (including youth with ADHD). Her most recent book Cognitive sophistication and the development of judgment and decision-making integrates her research from a 9-year longitudinal study on the developmental trajectories of these competencies. Her research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). She is also a clinical psychologist registered with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO). 

Measuring Rational Thinking in Development

Fostering competent decision-making is arguably one of the most important goals or outcomes we have for our children and youth. This talk will provide an overview of my research on the development of rational thinking in children and youth. Establishing stimulus equivalence of rational thinking tasks and using cognitive sophistication as a tool to operationalize rational thinking in development were key strategies in this program of research. Findings from a 9-year longitudinal study spanning the ages of 8 to 20 years of age will be discussed, including longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Base rate sensitivity, attribute framing and prudent temporal discounting were examined as direct measures of rational thinking, and several indirect measures of rational thinking, including ratio bias, belief bias syllogisms and a problem-solving task. Age differences, individual difference predictors (cognitive abilities and thinking dispositions), task factors and how developmental patterns complement data patterns that have been conducted in adult samples will be reported. This research program contributed to the development of the Assessment of Rational Thinking in Youth (ART-Y) for adolescents.