According to one embodiment, an electronic device may be configured to perform temporal correlation operations to determine if a plurality of observables correspond to an event of interest. The electronic device comprises a memory and a processor. The memory is adapted to store information representing a process template for the event, where the process template including a plurality of observation states. The processor is coupled to the memory. The processor is adapted to receive a plurality of observables, even in non-chronological order, and to conduct a recursive comparison of time values associated with each of the plurality of observables to timing ranges associated with each observation state to determine if the plurality of observables are associated with the event.