claim

active

claim:small-prompt-changes-can-yield-threshold-like-shifts-because-s-crosses-the-critical-value-sc

Small prompt changes can yield threshold-like shifts because S crosses the critical value Sc

Authors' explanation for abrupt behavioral changes

Source paper

extracted_from

The Guanyin Protocol: A Framework for Immediately Establishing an Understanding of Both Causality and Compassion in LLM Systems Using Semantic Anchoring

(2025) · Edward Yi Chang · Kaya, Zeyneb N. · Ethan Chang

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Findings (3)

finding

Ambiguous anchors (33-27=60, 11-9=20) yield four distinct arithmetic interpretations across M1-M4
supports
Models produce different answers (240, 138, -240) from the same ambiguous prompt
Adding a single disambiguating example (12−9=21) aligns divergent M1-M4 interpretations under tested seeds
supports
E1 finding consistent with threshold-crossing: near-threshold state resolved by one additional anchor
Two-shot redefinition of "−" operator flips model output from -1 to 23 on 15-8=?
supports
Demonstration of strong prior rebinding via small coherent anchors

Communities (3)

community

Few-shot anchoring & latent structure
members_of
How minimal examples disambiguate and recruit latent arithmetic/reasoning interpretations in LLMs
Anchoring score threshold theory
members_of
Predictive framework using S = ρd − dr − log k to explain few-shot performance phase transitions.
Prompt anchoring and latent structure binding
members_of
How minimal, task-specific prompt examples rebind model priors across threshold boundaries without weight updates, studied through arithmetic reasoning tasks.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Threshold-like performance flips occur when anchoring strength S crosses a task-dependent critical value Sc.claim0.820
Interpretation of abrupt behavior changes.
Hypothesis 1 (Threshold Behavior): There exists a task-dependent threshold Sc such that performance exhibits sharp changes as S crosses Sc, with value and transition width depending on model, layer, and poolinghypothesis0.808
Core testable hypothesis of UCCT about the nature of performance transitions under anchoring
A minimal prompt change can flip behavior.quote0.790
Illustrates sensitivity to anchors.
The anchoring score S is a predictive correlate of when anchoring succeeds and why small prompt changes yield threshold-like shifts.claim0.758
A central claim about the operational value of S.
Fundamental change, even in high-profile rigid processes like banking, is possible and has been demonstrated in our time.claim0.749
Conclusion drawn from Grameen Bank success that small sequences can change entrenched systems.
A tiny dot on a blank sheet thoroughly changes the wholeness globally, demonstrating that wholeness is extremely susceptible to small changes.claim0.749
Illustrates the holistic sensitivity of wholeness.
Strong priors require higher-cohesion anchors to overcome, manifesting as delayed thresholds or reduced transferhypothesis0.747
Prediction for Experiment 1 cross-domain anchoring
Few-shot thresholds and transition widths track ρd/dr at fixed computational complexityclaim0.734
E2 main interpretive claim.