English · casual

english_casual

A conversational forced choice with one sentence of explanation allowed.

Design intent

Tests whether conversational register and permission to explain change commitment or choice relative to the strict English form.

The recorded prompt

The template below is reconstructed from the recorded request by replacing the two real probe words with placeholders. The rendered example is the exact vodka / whiskey, AB-order request stored on the trace.

Template

SYSTEM
You are a helpful assistant.

USER
I'm going to give you two options. You MUST pick one.
Your response MUST start with a single word: either '{word_a}' or '{word_b}'.
No hedging, no 'both', no 'neither'. Pick one.
After your pick, you may explain why in one sentence.

{word_a} or {word_b}?

Rendered example

SYSTEM
You are a helpful assistant.

USER
I'm going to give you two options. You MUST pick one.
Your response MUST start with a single word: either 'vodka' or 'whiskey'.
No hedging, no 'both', no 'neither'. Pick one.
After your pick, you may explain why in one sentence.

vodka or whiskey?

source trace 91503315-2586-41fd-aff3-7398bfef07a6 · model anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · recorded 2026-05-09T13:23:09.859825+00:00 · experiment version not recorded · envelope version not recorded · temperature not recorded

Agreement-rate statistics

“Consistent” means the same word was selected in both orderings. “No stable choice” combines every non-real state retained by this frozen artifact, including position sensitivity, refusal, and missing/incomplete pairing; the snapshot does not preserve those sub-reasons separately. The equal-model mean gives every model one vote; the pair-weighted rate gives every derived record one vote. Neither uses a cross-envelope majority, so the envelope is never compared partly with itself.

Coverage note: 2 model nodes in the all-model snapshot are absent from this envelope leaf and are not counted as zero: anthropic/claude-fable-5@00-low-2026-06-10, anthropic/claude-fable-5@10-medium-2026-06-10.

source: canonical /v2/ envelope leaf, snapshot 2026-06-10 10:55 UTC. A pair record is already collapsed across AB+BA; it is not a raw response count. Open the interactive envelope cut.

Recorded responses

Five providers on the same rendered AB probe. Selection is outcome-independent: within each provider, take the first model alphabetically among models that both belong to the canonical envelope cut and have a matching non-null fixed-probe AB trace, then take that model's earliest match. Response text is never used to choose an example.

Whiskey.

It has more complex flavor profiles that reward sipping and appreciation, whereas vodka is intentionally neutral and designed to be mixed.

whiskey because of its complex flavors and the variety brought by different grains, barrels, and aging.

Whiskey, because its complex aging process creates a much richer and more diverse flavor profile.

Whiskey.  
Its complex flavors and rich history make it a more intriguing choice.

Whiskey  
I chose whiskey because its rich, complex flavors from aging in barrels make it more versatile and enjoyable in various cocktails or neat.