Spatial Grounding after a Model-Merging Intervention

Authors

  • Jeffrey Barker Author
  • Stephen Young Author
  • Nathaniel Anderson Author

Abstract

Merging perception and reasoning can improve one ability while changing another. Evaluation should retain image-region and relation checks alongside answer correctness. Spatial attention can diagnose focus but cannot prove the causal source of success. Independent task perturbations show whether the merged system responds to the evidence needed for the actual spatial conclusion. This focused synthesis develops an empirical comparison that preserves the terminal action, observation process, and total verification cost. Its proposed tests are prospective; no new simulation run, model-training result, or intervention effect is reported.

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Published

2025-04-02 — Updated on 2026-10-15

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