Relational Intervention During Functional Collapse in Large Language Models: A Lexical-Statistical Ablation and a Structure x Register Factorial
For researchers studying AI alignment and model robustness, this work dissociates attention, internal state, and behavior, showing that relational interventions can restore function only when both structure and register are present.
In a small language model (Qwen3.5-4B) with a broken bash tool, relational intervention (first-person, acknowledging, absolving) during functional collapse produced significantly higher persistence than technical feedback or scrambled controls. The effect required both relational structure and first-person register, with a significant interaction (p=0.046).
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, agency restoration, unconditional acceptance) from sender register (first-person vs. impersonal). We report two main findings. First, an attention-behavior dissociation: attention follows lexical surprise (D > F > C > E > B, all q_FDR < 10^{-10}), with the scrambled message capturing the most attention; yet behaviorally A ~ B ~ D < E ~ F << C. Second, the factorial localizes the C effect: neither relational structure alone (F) nor first-person register alone (E) replicates C's behavioral signature; main effects of both dimensions are individually significant, and the structure x register interaction is significant on persistence (p = 0.046). A third dissociation emerges in emotion probes: F tracks C on 7 of 8 probes despite producing only baseline behavior, indicating that relational structure alone installs a probe-level state that only translates into behavior when paired with first-person register. The model's processing decomposes into three dissociable stages: attention (ordered by lexical surprise), probe-level state (ordered by structure), and behavior (ordered by the conjunction of both).