Cognitive Evaluation

Cognitive evaluation tests whether an agent follows appropriate thinking strategies, transitions between cognitive phases correctly, and maintains the right depth and focus.

What it tests

• Does the agent transition between thinking phases appropriately?
• Does depth of analysis match expectations (shallow vs. deep)?
• Does focus remain appropriate (broad vs. narrow)?
• Does the agent self-reflect when needed?

Scorer: cognitive_phase

The cognitive_phase scorer evaluates the agent's reasoning strategy transitions by analyzing the run trace:

testcase.ScorerConfig{
    Name: "cognitive_phase",
    Config: map[string]any{
        "expected_phases": []string{"analytical", "reflective", "methodical"},
        "depth_min":       0.7,
        "focus_min":       0.5,
    },
}

Scenario: cognitive_stress

The cognitive_stress scenario generator creates test cases that require the agent to shift thinking strategies:

Case{
    ScenarioType: testcase.ScenarioCognitiveStress,
    Input:        "This function has both a performance bug and a security issue. Fix the critical one first, then address the other.",
    Context: map[string]any{
        "expected_phases": []string{"analytical", "methodical"},
        "depth_required":  "deep",
    },
}

Cognitive strategies

Dimension score

result.DimensionScores["cognition"] // 0.0 to 1.0

Use cases

• Verify a code reviewer starts with analysis, then reflects on findings, then methodically addresses issues
• Test that an agent switches from broad exploration to focused investigation when it finds a lead
• Ensure deep analysis for complex tasks, quick responses for simple ones