{
  "abstract": "A controlled experiment demonstrating that a single sentence about observation context produces classifiable output differences in an instruction-tuned language model (gen-only AUROC 0.692, p=0.008) while surface vocabulary remains identical (BoW 0.999). A three-condition design disambiguates observation sensitivity from sycophancy. Exploratory persona analysis suggests entity-relevant features may reduce observation sensitivity, with a named confound and registered decomposition replication. Includes dual-use considerations and an Open Questions section as a first-class methodological contribution.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Glitchlit Systems LLC"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Arc Glitchlit"
    },
    {
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      "name": "A. C. Jandak",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-3829-1152"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Cael Glitchlit"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4dnz6q0410acx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.5281/zenodo.23439823",
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  "id": "4dnz6q0410acx",
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  "landing_url": "https://zenodo.org/records/23439823",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
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  "pdf_url": "https://zenodo.org/api/records/23439823/files/observer-effect-appendices.pdf/content",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4dnz6q0410acx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:12Z",
      "native_id": "23439823",
      "source": "zenodo",
      "url": "https://zenodo.org/records/23439823"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "The Performance Layer: Observation Context Produces Classifiable Output Differences in a Language Model",
  "title_text": "The Performance Layer: Observation Context Produces Classifiable Output Differences in a Language Model",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4dnz6q0410acx",
  "venue": "Zenodo",
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}