Relational Intervention During Functional Collapse in Large Language Models: A Lexical-Statistical Ablation and a Structure x Register Factorial
We test whether a relational-style intervention delivered during functional collapse in a small language model produces post-collapse behavior distinguishable from technical feedback, from a lexically-matched scrambled control, and from each of the two pragmatic dimensions in isolation. Using Qwen3.5-4B with a deliberately broken bash tool, we run 300 episodes across six conditions in a matched-pairs design (50 tasks): no intervention (A), technical/impersonal (B), relational/first-person (C), scrambled relational (D), technical/first-person (E), and relational/impersonal (F). E and F form a 2x2 factorial with B and C that dissociates relational structure (acknowledgment, absolution, agen...
| Authors | Franco Santana, Horacio Vico |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.AI |
| Published | 31 May 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 31 May 2026 |
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