schema_version: "1.0"

id: "FM-ISC-002"

title: "FM-ISC-002 — Signal Misclassification"

slug: "fm-isc-002-signal-misclassification"

type: "failure_mode"

status: "draft"

version: "0.1.0"

last_updated: "2026-06-19"

summary: "Signal Misclassification occurs when a system incorrectly classifies the meaning, type, source, scope, urgency, consent-status, constraint-status, identity-relevance, risk-level, or repair-significance of a signal, causing downstream action, interpretation, coupling, or response to mismatch the actual condition."

canonical_url: "/archive/failure-modes/registry/interactions-signals-couplings/fm-isc-002-signal-misclassification"

citation_id: "FM-ISC-002-v0-1-0"

canon:

tier: "registry"

state: "draft"

source: "UTS — Failure Modes Registry"

source_id: "FM-ISC-002"

replaces_narrower_label:

• "Constraint Signal Misclassification"

classification:

family: "failure-modes"

module: "interactions-signals-couplings"

module_group: "isc"

density: "advanced-reference"

audience:

• "UTS readers"
• "interaction researchers"
• "signal systems researchers"
• "cybernetics researchers"
• "AI alignment researchers"
• "interface researchers"
• "restoration researchers"
• "justice researchers"
• "coherence researchers"
• "machine readers"

tags:

• "failure-modes"
• "isc"
• "interactions"
• "signals"
• "couplings"
• "signal-misclassification"
• "fm-isc-002-signal-misclassification"
• "constraint-signal-misclassification"
• "classification"
• "interpretation"
• "feedback"
• "coherence"

aliases:

• "Signal Misclassification"
• "Signal Type Misclassification"
• "Signal Meaning Misclassification"
• "Constraint Signal Misclassification"
• "Feedback Misclassification"
• "Misread Signal"
• "Wrong Signal Class"
• "Signal Category Error"
• "Signal Interpretation Error"
• "Signal Response Mismatch"

related:

laws:

• "Signal Must Be Classified Before Coupling"
• "Constraint Signal Must Not Be Treated as Preference"
• "Preference Signal Must Not Be Treated as Consent"
• "Distress Signal Must Not Be Treated as Disorder"
• "Boundary Signal Must Not Be Treated as Hostility"
• "Silence Must Not Be Treated as Stability"
• "Feedback Must Preserve Context"
• "U4 Truth Substitution"
• "Observability Collapse"
• "Pseudo-Coherence"
• "Hidden Debt Accumulation"
• "Choice Under Clarity"

invariants:

• "Signals Require Type Integrity"
• "Signals Must Preserve Source Context"
• "Classification Must Remain Revisable"
• "Signal Response Must Match Signal Class"
• "Constraint Signals Must Preserve Constraint Status"
• "Consent Signals Must Remain Consent-Valid"
• "Repair Signals Must Not Be Reframed as Noise"

operators:

• "Ψ — Observation / Interface"
• "Γ — Selection"
• "Au — Auditability"
• "BΣ — Boundary Integrity"
• "O — Coherence"
• "Λ — Compatibility"
• "K — Constraint / Load"
• "H — Hidden Debt"
• "R — Restoration Capacity"
• "D — Damping"
• "Φ — Flow / Resource Movement"
• "G — Gain"
• "Τ — Trajectory / Time"

gates:

• "Signal Classification Gate"
• "Context Gate"
• "Source Gate"
• "Constraint Gate"
• "Consent Gate"
• "Boundary Gate"
• "Urgency Gate"
• "Auditability Gate"
• "Response Matching Gate"
• "Local Coherence Gate"

diagnostics:

• "Signal Class Accuracy"
• "Context Completeness"
• "Source Traceability"
• "Signal / Response Fit"
• "Constraint Recognition"
• "Consent Validity"
• "Urgency Accuracy"
• "Boundary Integrity"
• "Hidden Debt"
• "Local Coherence"

failure_modes:

• "FM-ISC-001 — Identity-Binding Signal Capture"
• "FM-ISC-003 — Urgency Substitution"
• "FM-ISC-014 — Reflection Without Integration"
• "FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse"
• "FM-C-002 — Instrumentation Theater"
• "FM-C-018 — Goodhart Collapse"
• "FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution"
• "FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence"
• "FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation"
• "FM-JC-012 — Silence Misread as Stability"
• "FM-R-003 — Insight Without Load Reduction"
• "FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion"

restoration_arcs:

• "Signal Reclassification"
• "Context Re-expansion"
• "Source Trace Restoration"
• "Signal / Response Refit"
• "Constraint Status Restoration"
• "Consent Validity Recheck"
• "Boundary Signal Repair"
• "Urgency Recalibration"
• "Misclassification Debt Accounting"
• "Local Coherence Restoration"

modules:

• "Interactions / Signals / Couplings"
• "Cybernetics"
• "Interfaces"
• "AI Governance"
• "Justice"
• "Restoration"
• "Diagnostics"
• "Coherence"

navigation:

order: 1502

parent: "failure-modes"

visible: true

provenance:

created_from: "failure-mode-registry-production"

source_thread: "UTS Failure Modes Registry production"

source_file: "content/archive/failure-modes/registry/interactions-signals-couplings/fm-isc-002-signal-misclassification.md"

notes: "Generalized from narrower working label 'Constraint Signal Misclassification' into broader ISC parent mode. Constraint signal misclassification is preserved as an important subtype and alias. ISC family covers failures in signal interpretation, coupling, consent, boundaries, operator sequencing, and relation geometry."

entry:

failure_mode_id: "FM-ISC-002"

failure_family: "Interactions / Signals / Couplings"

production_treatment: "Generalized Parent Entry"

former_label:

• "Constraint Signal Misclassification"

parent_modes:

• "FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse"
• "FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution"
• "FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion"
• "FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence"
• "FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation"

first_gate_failure: "Signal Classification Gate"

primary_hidden_debt: "Hidden debt accumulates when signals are routed into the wrong interpretive class, causing mismatched response, invalid coupling, suppressed repair, false consent, excess urgency, ignored constraints, or distorted future interpretation."

primary_inversion: "Signal meaning is replaced by system convenience; the system classifies a signal according to what it can process, wants to believe, or is incentivized to act on rather than what the signal actually indicates."

primary_boundary_pattern: "The boundary between signal classes collapses; constraint, preference, consent, risk, distress, refusal, boundary, repair need, and identity-relevant signals become interchangeable or misrouted."

primary_signature: "Signal appears; class assignment is wrong; response matches the false class rather than the actual condition; mismatch creates harm, delay, coercion, false stability, or hidden debt."

FM-ISC-002 — Signal Misclassification

Status: Draft

Archive Type: Failure Mode

System: Universal Theory Stack

Parent: Failure Modes

Canon Tier: Registry

Registry: Failure Modes Registry

Entry ID: FM-ISC-002

Family: Interactions / Signals / Couplings

Production Treatment: Generalized Parent Entry

Former Working Label: Constraint Signal Misclassification

Parent Modes: FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse; FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution; FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion; FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence; FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation

0. Interaction Scope Note

This entry is conceptual and systems-oriented.

It does not treat all misreads, uncertainty, ambiguity, incomplete information, classification attempts, interpretation, triage, or signal compression as inherently failed.

Signals are often ambiguous.

Systems frequently need to classify signals under uncertainty.

Signal classification can preserve coherence when it is:

• context-aware
• source-aware
• revisable
• auditable
• proportional
• consent-aware
• boundary-aware
• responsive to correction
• compatible with affected-node standing
• connected to the right response pathway
• able to preserve uncertainty where uncertainty remains
• able to separate signal type from identity assignment

The failure begins when the signal is placed in the wrong class and the system acts as if that classification is true.

The issue is not uncertainty.

The issue is misclassification becoming downstream reality.

Signal Misclassification occurs when a system misreads what kind of signal it has received.

1. Definition

Signal Misclassification occurs when a system incorrectly classifies the meaning, type, source, scope, urgency, consent-status, constraint-status, identity-relevance, risk-level, or repair-significance of a signal, causing downstream action, interpretation, coupling, or response to mismatch the actual condition.

The misclassified signal may be:

• constraint
• preference
• consent
• refusal
• boundary
• risk
• distress
• urgency
• repair need
• identity-relevant signal
• temporary state
• durable pattern
• warning
• noise
• feedback
• anomaly
• exception
• escalation
• compatibility signal
• incompatibility signal
• invitation
• rejection
• limitation
• capacity signal
• trust signal
• silence
• compliance
• withdrawal
• fatigue
• capability signal

The core failure is:

signal appears
wrong class assigned
response follows wrong class
condition mismatched
H↑

Signal Misclassification is not merely incorrect interpretation.

It is incorrect interpretation that routes action, relation, or repair incorrectly.

2. Core Pattern

The core pattern is:

1. A signal appears.
2. The system classifies the signal.
3. The classification is wrong, premature, overconfident, or too narrow.
4. The response is selected according to the false class.
5. The actual condition remains unmet or is worsened.
6. The response produces secondary signals.
7. The system interprets the secondary signals through the same false class.
8. Misclassification becomes self-reinforcing.
9. Hidden debt accumulates through mismatch.
10. Restoration requires reclassifying the signal and repairing downstream consequences.

This failure often appears as:

we responded to the signal

while the hidden truth may be:

we responded to the wrong signal class

or:

the signal was clear

while the overlooked condition is:

the classification was clear, not necessarily correct

The restorative question is:

what class of signal was this, and what class did the system treat it as?

Signal Misclassification turns interpretation error into response error.

3. Failure Signature

Typical signature:

signal appears
classification confidence↑
context audit↓
response mismatch↑
secondary burden↑
H↑

Extended signature:

constraint treated as preference
preference treated as consent
boundary treated as hostility
distress treated as disorder
silence treated as stability
fatigue treated as refusal
warning treated as noise
repair need treated as complaint
risk signal treated as inconvenience
temporary state treated as identity

Common forms include:

a user says “I cannot” and the system treats it as “I do not want to”
a worker raises a capacity constraint and leadership treats it as attitude
a community refuses unsafe terms and is labeled uncooperative
a person is silent because of fear and the institution treats silence as agreement
a platform treats user frustration as abuse rather than unresolved repair need
an AI system treats a temporary request as durable preference
a compliance system treats checkbox completion as consent
a security system treats anomaly as noise until breach occurs
a justice process treats repeated testimony fatigue as lack of credibility
an organization treats warning signals as negativity

The defining condition is not that the system receives a signal.

The defining condition is that the system routes the signal into the wrong class and acts from that class.

4. Primary U-Layer Origin

Common origin layers:

• U1 — Power / Budgets: stronger nodes define signal class in ways that preserve convenience, authority, or cost position.
• U2 — Configuration / Boundaries: classification schemas lack enough categories or collapse distinct signal classes.
• U3 — Execution / Runtime: routines respond automatically before classification is validated.
• U4 — Information / Truth: primary layer; false classification substitutes for signal truth.
• U5 — Coordination / Time: urgency, delay, or prior history distorts classification.
• U6 — Coherence Field: simple classification creates explanatory comfort.
• U7 — Memory / Recurrence: past labels bias current classification.
• U8 — Environment / Field: cultural, institutional, algorithmic, or market fields reward simplified signal routing.

Common manifestation layers:

• U2 — Boundaries: signal classes collapse.
• U3 — Execution: wrong response pathway is triggered.
• U4 — Truth: false class becomes working reality.
• U5 — Time: misclassification persists.
• U6 — Field: coherence aura hardens around the label.
• U7 — Memory: prior misclassification repeats.

Signal Misclassification is primarily a U4 truth-substitution / Ψ observation failure, expressed through Γ response selection.

The system acts on the class it assigned, not the signal it received.

5. Typical Development Sequence

A common development sequence is:

1. Node emits or displays signal.
2. Observer/system classifies it using available schema.
3. Schema lacks the needed distinction or selects the wrong class.
4. System chooses response.
5. Response fails to meet the actual condition.
6. Affected node emits new signal: clarification, escalation, withdrawal, distress, refusal, workaround, or silence.
7. System interprets the new signal through the original false class.
8. Misclassification deepens.
9. Relation, repair, or coordination deteriorates.
10. Hidden debt accumulates.
11. Future signals are harder to classify accurately.

The loop often looks like:

signal → wrong class → wrong response → secondary signal → wrong confirmation

Another common loop is:

constraint misread as preference → pressure applied → distress appears → distress misread as instability

Signal Misclassification becomes self-reinforcing when the wrong response generates evidence that appears to confirm the wrong classification.

6. Diagnostic Markers

Diagnostic markers include:

• The response does not fit the stated or observed signal.
• Clarification is treated as resistance.
• Boundary signals are treated as conflict signals.
• Constraint signals are treated as motivation or preference signals.
• Consent signals are inferred from compliance, silence, or non-exit.
• Warnings are dismissed as noise until they become crisis.
• Temporary states are treated as durable patterns.
• Risk signals are routed to public-relations or compliance instead of repair.
• Feedback loops worsen after response.
• The system has too few signal categories.
• The affected node repeatedly says, “that is not what I meant.”
• Restoration improves when signal type is reclassified.

Useful diagnostics:

• Signal Class Accuracy: Tests whether assigned class matches actual signal.
• Context Completeness: Checks conditions surrounding the signal.
• Source Traceability: Identifies who emitted the signal and under what constraints.
• Signal / Response Fit: Tests whether response matches signal class.
• Constraint Recognition: Determines whether limits are recognized as limits.
• Consent Validity: Tests whether consent was inferred validly.
• Urgency Accuracy: Determines whether urgency was inflated or suppressed.
• Boundary Integrity: Tests whether refusal, limitation, or boundary remains intact.
• Hidden Debt: Tracks burden created by misclassification.
• Local Coherence: Tests whether classification improves or degrades interaction.

7. Related Gates

Relevant gates include:

• Signal Classification Gate: Fails when signal type is assigned incorrectly.
• Context Gate: Fails when conditions surrounding the signal are ignored.
• Source Gate: Fails when the source’s standing or condition is misread.
• Constraint Gate: Fails when limits are misclassified as preferences, resistance, or attitude.
• Consent Gate: Fails when compliance, silence, or non-exit is misclassified as consent.
• Boundary Gate: Fails when boundary signals are treated as hostility or rejection of relation.
• Urgency Gate: Fails when urgency is inflated, suppressed, or substituted.
• Auditability Gate: Fails when classification cannot be challenged.
• Response Matching Gate: Fails when response does not fit signal class.
• Local Coherence Gate: Fails when response worsens actual conditions.

The first common gate failure is usually the Signal Classification Gate.

The system acts before confirming what kind of signal it is receiving.

8. Related Operators

Relevant operators include:

• Ψ — Observation / Interface: Primary operator; determines what signal is seen and how it is represented.
• Γ — Selection: Selects the interpretive class and response pathway.
• Au — Auditability: Determines whether classification can be inspected and corrected.
• BΣ — Boundary Integrity: Preserves distinction between signal classes.
• O — Coherence: May appear improved when classification simplifies ambiguity.
• Λ — Compatibility: Tests whether response fits actual signal.
• K — Constraint / Load: Rises when misclassification adds burden.
• H — Hidden Debt: Accumulates through mismatched response.
• R — Restoration Capacity: Repairs misrouting and downstream harm.
• D — Damping: Should slow premature classification.
• Φ — Flow / Resource Movement: Routes action, attention, and resources after classification.
• G — Gain: Incentivizes convenient misclassification.
• Τ — Trajectory / Time: Tracks correction, persistence, or recurrence.

Common operator pattern:

signal appears
Ψ compresses or distorts signal
Γ assigns wrong class
Φ routes wrong response
Λ mismatch rises
K rises in affected node
O appears improved through certainty
Au is needed but weak
H accumulates

The core operator inversion is:

classified → understood

instead of:

classified + context-audited + response-fit-tested + revisable → provisionally understood

Signal Misclassification turns category assignment into truth.

9. Related Laws and Invariants

Related Laws

• Signal Must Be Classified Before Coupling: response should not lock before signal type is known.
• Constraint Signal Must Not Be Treated as Preference: limits are not optional desires.
• Preference Signal Must Not Be Treated as Consent: wanting, liking, or tolerating is not necessarily agreeing.
• Distress Signal Must Not Be Treated as Disorder: distress may indicate external burden.
• Boundary Signal Must Not Be Treated as Hostility: refusal can preserve coherence.
• Silence Must Not Be Treated as Stability: lack of signal may reflect constraint.
• Feedback Must Preserve Context: signals require condition awareness.
• U4 Truth Substitution: classification replaces signal truth.
• Observability Collapse: signal content is lost or unseen.
• Pseudo-Coherence: simple classification creates false order.
• Hidden Debt Accumulation: mismatch creates future burden.
• Choice Under Clarity: valid action requires correctly understood signal conditions.

Related Invariants

• Signals Require Type Integrity: signal class must remain distinct.
• Signals Must Preserve Source Context: source condition and constraints matter.
• Classification Must Remain Revisable: early classification cannot become permanent truth.
• Signal Response Must Match Signal Class: action must fit the actual signal type.
• Constraint Signals Must Preserve Constraint Status: limits must not be softened into preference.
• Consent Signals Must Remain Consent-Valid: consent cannot be inferred from mere compliance.
• Repair Signals Must Not Be Reframed as Noise: requests for repair must remain legible.

10. Common False Positives

Not every wrong or incomplete interpretation is Signal Misclassification.

Common false positives include:

• Provisional classification under uncertainty.
• Triage that remains revisable.
• Ambiguous signal with no available context yet.
• Classification corrected after clarification.
• Conservative response that protects affected nodes while signal class is unknown.
• Temporary routing with explicit review.
• Automated classification with clear appeal and correction.
• Noise filtering that preserves escalation path.
• Risk classification that remains bounded and time-limited.
• Consent verification requested before action.
• Boundary clarification before response.
• Context gathering before coupling.

Clarifying rule:

This is not Signal Misclassification unless the system assigns the wrong signal class and then acts, couples, interprets, escalates, suppresses, or repairs according to that false class in a way that creates mismatch, burden, delay, coercion, or hidden debt.

11. Common False Repairs

Common false repairs include:

• adding more labels without improving classification
• refining the wrong class instead of reclassifying
• asking the affected node to adapt to the misread
• treating clarification as another signal of the same false class
• building a more complex response to the wrong signal type
• adding dashboards that track false categories
• requiring appeal through the same misclassification logic
• changing wording while preserving misrouting
• treating consent failure as communication failure
• treating constraint as negotiable preference
• treating repair request as emotional processing need
• treating warning as tone problem
• treating silence as enough confirmation
• treating refusal as hostility
• treating mismatch as user error

False repair often produces the loop:

misclassification challenged → classification refined → wrong class remains → burden persists

Another common loop is:

wrong response causes secondary signal → secondary signal confirms wrong class → misclassification hardens

The repair fails because it improves response inside the wrong category.

12. Restoration Direction

Restoration requires reclassifying the signal, restoring context, repairing downstream mismatches, and installing gates that prevent premature or convenient signal-class assignment.

Primary restoration direction:

reclassify the signal,
restore context,
refit the response,
and repair misclassification debt

A fuller restoration path includes:

1. Name the signal. Identify what was emitted, observed, inferred, or received.
2. Name the assigned class. Identify what the system treated the signal as.
3. Name the actual or candidate class. Identify what the signal may actually indicate.
4. Audit context. Reopen source conditions, constraints, timing, power, relation, history, and environment.
5. Check source standing. Confirm whether the source has authority over the signal’s meaning.
6. Separate signal types. Distinguish constraint, preference, consent, boundary, warning, distress, urgency, repair need, and identity relevance.
7. Refit response. Replace the wrong response pathway with one matching the signal class.
8. Repair downstream harm. Address effects caused by the prior mismatch.
9. Restore auditability. Make classification challengeable.
10. Add uncertainty handling. Preserve unknown status where classification is incomplete.
11. Update schemas. Add missing signal categories or distinctions.
12. Validate with affected nodes. Confirm the new classification improves local coherence.
13. Track recurrence. Detect repeated misclassification patterns.
14. Prevent recurrence. Install signal classification gates before coupling or response.

A valid restoration path should reduce:

classification mismatch
response mismatch
constraint erasure
consent invalidity
boundary collapse
urgency distortion
misclassification debt
H

Signal Misclassification is not repaired by louder interpretation.

It is repaired by restoring the right relation between signal, class, context, and response.

13. Cross-Module Links

• Interactions / Signals / Couplings: Core ISC failure in signal interpretation, classification, coupling, and response matching.
• Cybernetics: Feedback cannot correct the system if it is classified into the wrong signal type.
• Interfaces: UI labels, forms, dashboards, model outputs, warnings, and support flows classify signals and route responses.
• AI Governance: AI systems can misclassify user intent, consent, distress, risk, preference, refusal, capability, or repair need, producing invalid action.
• Justice: Refusal, silence, testimony fatigue, distress, boundary, and repair signals require valid classification.
• Restoration: Repair depends on correctly identifying repair-relevant signals.
• Diagnostics: Requires signal class accuracy, context completeness, signal/response fit, and hidden-debt diagnostics.
• Coherence: Coherent interaction requires signal classification to remain proportionate, contextual, revisable, and response-matched.

14. Relationship to Parent / Child Modes

Production treatment: Generalized Parent Entry

This entry generalizes the former working label:

• Constraint Signal Misclassification

Constraint Signal Misclassification remains a major subtype under Signal Misclassification, alongside:

• Consent Signal Misclassification
• Boundary Signal Misclassification
• Urgency Signal Misclassification
• Distress Signal Misclassification
• Risk Signal Misclassification
• Repair Signal Misclassification
• Identity-Relevance Misclassification
• Preference Signal Misclassification
• Silence / Nonresponse Misclassification
• Capacity Signal Misclassification
• Feedback Signal Misclassification

This mode maps upward to:

• FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse
• FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution
• FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion
• FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence
• FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation

Sibling or related ISC modes include:

• FM-ISC-001 — Identity-Binding Signal Capture
• FM-ISC-003 — Urgency Substitution
• FM-ISC-014 — Reflection Without Integration

Related cross-family modes include:

• FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse
• FM-C-002 — Instrumentation Theater
• FM-C-018 — Goodhart Collapse
• FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution
• FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence
• FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation
• FM-JC-012 — Silence Misread as Stability
• FM-JC-007 — Manufactured Consent
• FM-R-003 — Insight Without Load Reduction
• FM-R-004 — Repair Burden Externalization
• FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion
• FM-AIX-012 — Guardrail Meaning Compression

Aliases preserved from source material:

• Signal Misclassification
• Signal Type Misclassification
• Signal Meaning Misclassification
• Constraint Signal Misclassification
• Feedback Misclassification
• Misread Signal
• Wrong Signal Class
• Signal Category Error
• Signal Interpretation Error
• Signal Response Mismatch

15. Minimal Entry Version

Definition: Signal Misclassification occurs when a system incorrectly classifies the meaning, type, source, scope, urgency, consent-status, constraint-status, identity-relevance, risk-level, or repair-significance of a signal, causing downstream action, interpretation, coupling, or response to mismatch the actual condition.

Signature:

signal appears
classification confidence↑
context audit↓
response mismatch↑
secondary burden↑
H↑

Restoration direction:

• name the signal
• name the assigned class
• name the actual or candidate class
• audit context
• check source standing
• separate signal types
• refit response
• repair downstream harm
• restore auditability
• add uncertainty handling
• update schemas
• validate with affected nodes
• track recurrence
• prevent recurrence

16. Machine-Readable Summary

failure_mode:
  id: "FM-ISC-002"
  name: "Signal Misclassification"
  family: "Interactions / Signals / Couplings"
  production_treatment: "Generalized Parent Entry"
  former_label:
    - "Constraint Signal Misclassification"
  major_subtypes:
    - "Constraint Signal Misclassification"
    - "Consent Signal Misclassification"
    - "Boundary Signal Misclassification"
    - "Urgency Signal Misclassification"
    - "Distress Signal Misclassification"
    - "Risk Signal Misclassification"
    - "Repair Signal Misclassification"
    - "Identity-Relevance Misclassification"
    - "Preference Signal Misclassification"
    - "Silence / Nonresponse Misclassification"
    - "Capacity Signal Misclassification"
    - "Feedback Signal Misclassification"
  parent_modes:
    - "FM-C-001 — Observability Collapse"
    - "FM-CORE-006 — U4 Truth Substitution"
    - "FM-AIX-011 — Epistemic Distortion"
    - "FM-CORE-001 — Pseudo-Coherence"
    - "FM-CORE-002 — Hidden Debt Accumulation"
  primary_failure: "The system assigns the wrong signal class and then acts, couples, interprets, escalates, suppresses, or repairs according to that false class in a way that creates mismatch, burden, delay, coercion, or hidden debt."
  source: "UTS — Failure Modes Registry"
  source_id: "FM-ISC-002"
  scope_note: "Conceptual and systems-oriented; does not treat all misreads, uncertainty, ambiguity, incomplete information, classification attempts, interpretation, triage, or signal compression as inherently failed."
  aliases:
    - "Signal Misclassification"
    - "Signal Type Misclassification"
    - "Signal Meaning Misclassification"
    - "Constraint Signal Misclassification"
    - "Feedback Misclassification"
    - "Misread Signal"
    - "Wrong Signal Class"
    - "Signal Category Error"
    - "Signal Interpretation Error"
    - "Signal Response Mismatch"
  signature:
    - "signal appears"
    - "classification confidence↑"
    - "context audit↓"
    - "response mismatch↑"
    - "secondary burden↑"
    - "H↑"
  primary_layers:
    origin:
      - "U1 — Power / Budgets"
      - "U2 — Configuration / Boundaries"
      - "U3 — Execution / Runtime"
      - "U4 — Information / Truth"
      - "U5 — Coordination / Time"
      - "U6 — Coherence Field"
      - "U7 — Memory / Recurrence"
      - "U8 — Environment / Field"
    manifestation:
      - "U2 — Boundaries"
      - "U3 — Execution"
      - "U4 — Truth"
      - "U5 — Time"
      - "U6 — Field"
      - "U7 — Memory"
  state_variables:
    - "Ψ"
    - "Γ"
    - "Au"
    - "BΣ"
    - "O"
    - "Λ"
    - "K"
    - "H"
    - "R"
    - "D"
    - "Φ"
    - "G"
    - "Τ"
  first_gate_failure: "Signal Classification Gate"
  restoration:
    - "Signal Reclassification"
    - "Context Re-expansion"
    - "Source Trace Restoration"
    - "Signal / Response Refit"
    - "Constraint Status Restoration"
    - "Consent Validity Recheck"
    - "Boundary Signal Repair"
    - "Urgency Recalibration"
    - "Misclassification Debt Accounting"
    - "Local Coherence Restoration"