Glossary · Meaning and specification
Reference anchorA
2InstrumentThe external object a judgment is rooted in: a canonical answer, gold state, reference distribution, adjudicated expert labels, a stronger evaluator, or production outcomes. Gold is a reference anchor, not a mechanism or a rung.
Also called: anchor, reference, gold answer
Defined in
Handbook · InstrumentAnchors and evidence viewsWhat the judgment is rooted in, and what the evaluator may see: two coordinates most taxonomies forget, and the cheapest lever for better evaluators.Related terms
- Exemplar anchors
- Positive and negative examples, adversarial near-misses, and scale points attached to a criterion card to fix its boundary. Not the reference anchor A, the anchor channel, or the linking items kept across suite versions.
- Evidence view
- What the evaluator may observe: the final answer only, or also sources, tool traces, hidden state, snapshots, provenance and logs.
Where it comes up
- Vocabulary without category errorsHandbook · Foundations
- The verification hierarchy, demotedHandbook · Foundations
- Marr's levels for evaluationHandbook · Foundations
- Specification: what counts as successHandbook · Instrument
- Mechanism familiesHandbook · Instrument
- Adaptive validityHandbook · Validity under pressure
- Goodhart pressure and self-confirming loopsHandbook · Validity under pressure
- Channels, independence, and anchor burnHandbook · Lifecycle
- Notation and formula cardHandbook · Reference
- CrosswalkHandbook · Reference
- The frameworkPage