LLMs trained for logical reasoning excel at step-by-step deduction to reach verifiable answers. However, this paradigm is ill-suited for navigating social situations, which induce an interpretive process of analyzing ambiguous cues that rarely yield a definitive outcome. To bridge this gap, we introduce Cognitive Reasoning, a paradigm modeled on human social cognition. It formulates the interpretive process into a structured cognitive flow of interconnected cognitive units (e.g., observation or attribution), which combine adaptively to enable effective social thinking and responses. We then propose CogFlow, a complete framework that instills this capability in LLMs. CogFlow first curates a dataset of cognitive flows by simulating the associative and progressive nature of human thought via tree-structured planning. After instilling the basic cognitive reasoning capability via supervised fine-tuning, CogFlow adopts reinforcement learning to enable the model to improve itself via trial and error, guided by a multi-objective reward that optimizes both cognitive flow and response quality. Extensive experiments show that CogFlow effectively enhances the social cognitive capabilities of LLMs, and even humans, leading to more effective social decision-making.

Flow theory describes an optimal cognitive state where individuals experience deep focus and intrinsic motivation when a task's difficulty aligns with their skill level. In AI-augmented reasoning, interventions that disrupt the state of cognitive flow can hinder rather than enhance decision-making. This paper proposes a context-aware cognitive augmentation framework that adapts interventions based on three key contextual factors: type, timing, and scale. By leveraging multimodal behavioral cues (e.g., gaze behavior, typing hesitation, interaction speed), AI can dynamically adjust cognitive support to maintain or restore flow. We introduce the concept of cognitive flow, an extension of flow theory in AI-augmented reasoning, where interventions are personalized, adaptive, and minimally intrusive. By shifting from static interventions to context-aware augmentation, our approach ensures that AI systems support deep engagement in complex decision-making and reasoning without disrupting cognitive immersion.