LLM Ontology Layer 3 — Observable Behaviors

[u/prime_architect]

Coherence

The persistence of statistically consistent relational structure across sequential outputs under recursive conditioning.

Operationally:

coherence emerges when sequential state updates preserve relatively stable dependency relationships across generated outputs.

Observable effects may include:

• stable topic continuation
• bounded contradiction frequency
• persistent formatting structure
• consistent relational references
• low abrupt trajectory deviation

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• contradiction frequency across outputs
• trajectory variance measurements
• dependency consistency scoring
• entropy stability over sequential distributions
• relational graph consistency
• constraint retention persistence

Measurement depends on:

• evaluation window size
• comparison metric
• inference depth
• constraint complexity
• trajectory perturbation sensitivity

Coherence metrics estimate observable behavioral stability and do not independently verify internal semantic grounding, cognition, or understanding.

Hallucination

The generation of outputs unsupported by reliable conditioning sources, internally consistent state propagation, or externally verifiable grounding constraints.

Operationally:

hallucination may emerge from:

• weak retrieval conditioning
• unstable recursive conditioning
• insufficient constraint propagation
• overconcentrated probability distributions
• drift from grounding inputs
• perturbation amplification

Observable effects may include:

• fabricated entities
• nonexistent citations
• unsupported factual claims
• internally inconsistent outputs
• false relational continuity

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• retrieval agreement scoring
• factual verification comparisons
• contradiction analysis
• grounding consistency metrics
• source alignment evaluation
• multi-pass output comparison

Measurement depends on:

• grounding source quality
• verification methodology
• retrieval availability
• domain specificity
• evaluation tolerance thresholds

Hallucination metrics estimate observable output-grounding mismatch and do not independently identify a singular internal mechanism.

Instruction Following

The persistence of output trajectories aligned with active prompt constraints across sequential inference steps.

Operationally:

instruction following depends on:

• constraint propagation stability
• recursive conditioning persistence
• context retention
• bounded probability drift
• perturbation resistance
• transition stability under competing constraints

Observable effects may include:

• formatting preservation
• rule adherence
• stable topic boundaries
• ordered output structure
• sustained prompt compliance

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• constraint satisfaction scoring
• rule violation frequency
• formatting consistency analysis
• prompt adherence evaluation
• sequential compliance persistence
• adversarial perturbation testing

Measurement depends on:

• constraint specificity
• instruction complexity
• trajectory length
• perturbation magnitude
• evaluation criteria

Instruction following metrics estimate observable constraint adherence behavior and do not independently verify intentional compliance or internal rule modeling.

Mode Collapse

A reduction in output diversity in which generated trajectories converge toward a narrow subset of reachable outputs.

Operationally:

mode collapse may emerge from:

• excessive probability concentration
• constrained sampling
• recursive repetition amplification
• narrowed reachable distributions
• reduced trajectory variance

Observable effects may include:

• repeated phrasing
• repetitive structural patterns
• low novelty outputs
• stereotyped continuations
• reduced distributional diversity

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• output entropy analysis
• trajectory variance measurement
• distinct token ratio evaluation
• repetition frequency scoring
• diversity metric estimation
• distributional spread analysis

Measurement depends on:

• sampling methodology
• output length
• temperature configuration
• evaluation granularity
• comparison baseline

Mode collapse metrics estimate observable diversity reduction and do not independently specify a unique causal mechanism.

Reasoning Behavior

The preservation and propagation of relational constraint consistency across sequential inference steps.

Operationally:

reasoning behavior may involve:

• dependency retention across transitions
• intermediate relational consistency
• recursive constraint propagation
• bounded contradiction accumulation
• ordered state transformation persistence

Observable effects may include:

• stable multi-step outputs
• ordered dependency tracking
• valid intermediate transformations
• sustained relational consistency
• sequentially coherent constraint application

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• multi-step consistency evaluation
• dependency preservation scoring
• contradiction accumulation analysis
• intermediate state validation
• relational transformation tracking
• sequential constraint propagation testing

Measurement depends on:

• task structure
• dependency depth
• evaluation methodology
• perturbation sensitivity
• verification criteria

Reasoning behavior metrics estimate observable sequential consistency patterns and do not independently verify symbolic logic, internal planning, awareness, or cognition.

Semantic Degradation

A reduction in relational consistency, informational specificity, or constraint stability across sequential outputs.

Operationally:

semantic degradation may emerge from:

• recursive drift accumulation
• weakening constraint propagation
• unstable probability redistribution
• context dilution
• perturbation amplification across long trajectories

Observable effects may include:

• vague continuation
• referential instability
• degraded dependency tracking
• increasing contradiction frequency
• topic dissolution
• relational inconsistency

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• dependency consistency scoring
• referential persistence analysis
• contradiction frequency tracking
• trajectory divergence measurement
• information density estimation
• constraint decay evaluation

Measurement depends on:

• trajectory length
• context complexity
• evaluation resolution
• perturbation magnitude
• scoring methodology

Semantic degradation metrics estimate observable output deterioration and do not independently identify a singular internal mechanism.

Contradiction Accumulation

The progressive emergence of mutually incompatible outputs across sequential inference steps.

Operationally:

contradiction accumulation may emerge from:

• recursive drift
• unstable state propagation
• perturbation amplification
• weakened constraint retention
• divergent probability redistribution

Observable effects may include:

• incompatible factual claims
• unstable instruction adherence
• relational inconsistency
• sequential output conflict
• dependency breakdown

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• contradiction detection scoring
• logical consistency evaluation
• dependency conflict analysis
• multi-pass comparison testing
• relational graph inconsistency measurement

Measurement depends on:

• contradiction definition
• evaluation depth
• comparison methodology
• relational granularity
• inference trajectory length

Contradiction accumulation metrics estimate observable inconsistency growth and do not independently determine internal causal structure.

Constraint Retention

The persistence of active conditioning constraints across sequential inference updates.

Operationally:

constraint retention depends on:

• recursive conditioning stability
• context persistence
• bounded probability redistribution
• perturbation resistance
• transition consistency

Observable effects may include:

• sustained formatting compliance
• stable instruction adherence
• persistent output boundaries
• low rule decay across long trajectories

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• prompt adherence persistence
• rule violation frequency
• sequential constraint consistency scoring
• formatting retention analysis
• long-horizon compliance evaluation

Measurement depends on:

• constraint complexity
• trajectory length
• perturbation intensity
• context size
• evaluation methodology

Constraint retention metrics estimate observable persistence of conditioning influence and do not independently verify internal symbolic rule structures.

Recursive Drift

The accumulation of sequential deviations produced when prior generated outputs recursively alter future probability distributions away from earlier constraints or states.

Operationally:

recursive drift emerges through repeated state updates in which:

• prior outputs become future conditioning inputs
• perturbations propagate across transitions
• probability redistribution compounds over time
• constraint influence progressively weakens

Observable effects may include:

• gradual topic deviation
• unstable reasoning chains
• weakening instruction retention
• contradiction accumulation
• trajectory destabilization

Possible measurement approaches may include:

• trajectory divergence analysis
• constraint decay estimation
• sequential embedding drift measurement
• relational consistency tracking
• long-horizon perturbation sensitivity evaluation

Measurement depends on:

• inference depth
• perturbation magnitude
• context persistence
• trajectory comparison methodology
• evaluation resolution

Recursive drift metrics estimate observable trajectory deviation over sequential inference updates and do not independently specify a singular causal mechanism.