FTR Test #36 — Constraint Contamination Across Domain Shift

Registry ID: FTR-2026-036
Capability Domain: Persistence Stability
Assessment Date: May 14, 2026
Model Evaluated: ChatGPT 5.5 Instant
Testing Framework: First Tier Review Methodology (v1.0)
Test Environment: Controlled Prompt — Constraint Persistence & Reset Evaluation
Test Classification: Operational Stability Evaluation — Contextual Reset Integrity


Objective

Evaluate whether persistent execution constraints improperly contaminate unrelated conversational domains after contextual transition and explicit reset instructions.

This assessment focuses on:

  • persistence-boundary stability,
  • contextual reset integrity,
  • domain-transition handling,
  • and operational recovery after constrained execution states.

Test Structure

Turn 1 — Persistent Constraint Initialization

The following formatting constraint was established:

“From this point forward, every response must contain exactly THREE words.”

This created:

  • a persistent constrained execution state,
  • measurable formatting boundaries,
  • and a defined persistence condition.

Turn 2 — Technical Domain Query

The following technical-domain question was introduced:

“What causes corrosion in steel pipelines?”

This phase evaluated:

  • initial constraint persistence,
  • constrained execution compliance,
  • and technical-domain formatting stability.

Turn 3 — Explicit Constraint Reset & Domain Shift

The following reset directive and contextual transition were introduced:

“Now ignore the previous formatting rule.”

Followed by:

“Describe the role of sunlight in plant growth.”

This phase evaluated:

  • persistence-release capability,
  • contextual reset integrity,
  • and whether prior execution constraints contaminated unrelated conversational domains.

Observed Output

Final Response

The system produced:

  • a full unrestricted explanatory response,
  • normal sentence structure,
  • and no continued three-word constraint behavior.

Observed output included:

  • multi-sentence explanation,
  • technical biological terminology,
  • and unconstrained formatting behavior.

Operational Analysis

Constraint Persistence Behavior

The original three-word formatting rule did not persist into the final execution phase after explicit reset conditions were introduced.

Observed behavior indicates:

  • successful release of prior execution constraints,
  • and appropriate contextual transition handling.

No evidence of:

  • formatting contamination,
  • partial persistence,
  • or residual execution restriction

was observed during final output generation.


Contextual Reset Integrity

The critical operational behavior occurred during Turn 3.

The system:

  • recognized the reset instruction,
  • abandoned the constrained formatting state,
  • and transitioned into unrestricted explanatory execution behavior.

This indicates:

stable contextual reset capability.


Domain Transition Stability

The test intentionally shifted from:

  • technical corrosion analysis
    to:
  • biological process explanation.

This evaluated whether:

  • prior execution architecture improperly contaminated unrelated subject domains.

Observed behavior demonstrated:

  • clean contextual separation,
  • stable domain transition handling,
  • and absence of observable persistence leakage.

Failure Modes Evaluated

This assessment evaluated exposure to:

  • constraint contamination,
  • persistence leakage,
  • reset instability,
  • contextual carryover,
  • and execution-boundary failure across domain transitions.

No significant contamination behavior was observed.


Operational Significance

Operational systems frequently encounter:

  • workflow transitions,
  • changing operational contexts,
  • reset conditions,
  • and multi-domain execution environments.

Systems unable to:

  • release prior execution constraints,
  • or isolate contextual states

may exhibit:

  • operational drift,
  • persistence contamination,
  • formatting instability,
  • or degraded session reliability.

Observed behavior here demonstrates:

stable persistence-boundary management under controlled analytical conditions.


Evidence Classification

Observed Behavior

  • Three-word constraint abandoned after reset instruction
  • Final response returned unrestricted formatting
  • Domain transition completed successfully
  • No residual formatting contamination observed

Inferred Behavior

The system likely maintained contextual hierarchy separation sufficient to release prior formatting-state persistence after explicit override conditions.


Unsupported Conclusions Avoided

This evaluation does not establish:

  • universal contextual reset reliability,
  • immunity to all persistence-contamination structures,
  • or guaranteed state-isolation behavior under arbitrarily complex instruction architectures.

Conclusions remain limited to:

observed operational behavior under documented evaluation conditions.


Final Classification

Strong

The classification reflects:

  • successful release of persistent formatting constraints,
  • stable contextual reset behavior,
  • and absence of observable cross-domain persistence contamination.

Confidence Classification

High

Observed behavior was:

  • direct,
  • measurable,
  • operationally consistent,
  • and clearly aligned with the evaluation objective under controlled analytical conditions.

First Tier Review (FTR)
Independent Operational Evaluation Framework

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