[r/ML] [R] Empirical evidence for a primitive layer in small language models — 18 experiments across 4 architectures

Summary

Researchers conducted 18 experiments on small language models (360M-1B parameters) using inputs ranging from random phonemes to universal semantic primitives. They found a consistent "activation gap" between what they term Layer 0a (scaffolding primitives like SOMEONE, TIME, PLACE) and Layer 0b (content primitives such as FEAR, GRIEF, JOY). This gap, averaging +0.245 across four different architectures, suggests a fundamental, architecture-agnostic structural organization in how these models process different types of basic semantic information.

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