S0-R1-C5.5-R6-R11 Causal Noun Scope Frame

core/quantitative_engine.py

@@ -1274,6 +1274,56 @@ Keywords: {keywords}"""
                     continue
                 return "AFFIRMATIVE_CAUSAL"
 
+        # R6-R11 causal-noun scope frame.  A past participle can be either a
+        # predicate ("the analysis identified a causal effect") or a modifier
+        # inside a causal noun phrase ("rather than an identified causal
+        # effect").  The latter inherits the surrounding negation/contrast
+        # operator and must not be promoted to an affirmative causal claim.
+        causal_noun_participle = (
+            r"(?:identified|established|demonstrated|shown|inferred|supported|"
+            r"claimed|justified|warranted|proven)"
+        )
+        causal_noun_adverb = r"(?:empirically|statistically|directly|clearly|credibly|formally|causally)"
+        causal_noun_modifier = (
+            rf"(?:(?:{causal_noun_adverb}\s+){{0,2}}{causal_noun_participle}\s+)?"
+        )
+        causal_noun_surface = rf"(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_noun_modifier}{causal_term}"
+
+        limitation_patterns = (
+            rf"\b(?:cannot|can't|could not|couldn't|does not|doesn't|do not|don't|did not|didn't|fails? to|failed to|"
+            rf"is not able to|are not able to|was not able to|were not able to|unable to|insufficient to|not able to)\s+"
+            rf"(?:identify|establish|demonstrate|show|infer|support|imply|mean|claim|justify|warrant|permit|allow|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)\s+not\s+(?:designed|intended)\s+to\s+"
+            rf"(?:identify|establish|demonstrate|show|infer|support|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
+            rf"\bwithout\s+(?:identifying|establishing|demonstrating|showing|inferring|supporting|proving)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:no|without)\s+(?:evidence|basis|support|identification|proof)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)\s+not\s+(?:evidence|proof)\s+(?:of|for)\s+{causal_noun_surface}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:cannot|can't|could not|couldn't)\s+be\s+used\s+to\s+(?:infer|establish|demonstrate|show|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:should not|shouldn't|must not|cannot|can't|could not|couldn't)\s+be\s+"
+            rf"(?:interpreted|read|treated|understood)\s+(?:as|to mean)\s+{causal_noun_surface}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)?\s*(?:restricted|limited|confined)\s+to\b[^.;]*"
+            rf"\b(?:not|rather than|instead of)\s+(?:to\s+)?{causal_noun_surface}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:association|associations|covariation|covariance|correlation|correlations|indirect association|descriptive pattern|descriptive patterns)\b[^.;]*"
+            rf"\b(?:not(?:\s+as)?|rather than|instead of)\s+{causal_noun_surface}\b",
+            rf"\b{causal_term}\b\s+(?:is|are|was|were)\s+(?:not|never)\s+"
+            rf"{causal_noun_participle}\b",
+            rf"\b(?:not|no)\s+{causal_noun_surface}\b",
+        )
+        limitation_matches = [
+            match
+            for pattern in limitation_patterns
+            for match in re.finditer(pattern, value, flags=re.I)
+        ]
+
+        def noun_match_is_inside_limitation(match):
+            # Only suppress the affirmative interpretation when the matched
+            # predicate/noun phrase is actually inside the frozen limitation
+            # span.  A later affirmative clause remains fail-closed.
+            return any(
+                limited.start() <= match.start() and match.end() <= limited.end()
+                for limited in limitation_matches
+            )
+
         affirmative_noun_patterns = (
             rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were|represent(?:s|ed)?|constitut(?:es|ed))\s+(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_term}\b",
             rf"\b(?:identify|identifies|identified|establish|establishes|established|demonstrate|demonstrates|demonstrated|show|shows|showed|prove|proves|proved|provide|provides|provided)\b[^.;]{{0,80}}\b{causal_term}\b",
@@ -1282,6 +1332,8 @@ Keywords: {keywords}"""
         )
         for pattern in affirmative_noun_patterns:
             for match in re.finditer(pattern, value, flags=re.I):
+                if noun_match_is_inside_limitation(match):
+                    continue
                 prefix = value[max(0, match.start() - 80):match.start()]
                 if re.search(
                     r"\b(?:no|not|without|cannot|can't|insufficient|unable|does not|doesn't|do not|don't|did not|didn't|not able)\b",
@@ -1291,27 +1343,7 @@ Keywords: {keywords}"""
                     continue
                 return "AFFIRMATIVE_CAUSAL"
 
-        limitation_patterns = (
-            rf"\b(?:cannot|can't|could not|couldn't|does not|doesn't|do not|don't|did not|didn't|fails? to|failed to|"
-            rf"is not able to|are not able to|was not able to|were not able to|unable to|insufficient to|not able to)\s+"
-            rf"(?:identify|establish|demonstrate|show|infer|support|imply|mean|claim|justify|warrant|permit|allow|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)\s+not\s+(?:designed|intended)\s+to\s+"
-            rf"(?:identify|establish|demonstrate|show|infer|support|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\bwithout\s+(?:identifying|establishing|demonstrating|showing|inferring|supporting|proving)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:no|without)\s+(?:evidence|basis|support|identification|proof)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)\s+not\s+(?:evidence|proof)\s+(?:of|for)\s+(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:cannot|can't|could not|couldn't)\s+be\s+used\s+to\s+(?:infer|establish|demonstrate|show|prove)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:should not|shouldn't|must not|cannot|can't|could not|couldn't)\s+be\s+"
-            rf"(?:interpreted|read|treated|understood)\s+(?:as|to mean)\b[^.;]*\b{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:is|are|was|were)?\s*(?:restricted|limited|confined)\s+to\b[^.;]*"
-            rf"\b(?:not|rather than|instead of)\s+(?:to\s+)?(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b(?:association|associations|covariation|covariance|correlation|correlations|indirect association|descriptive pattern|descriptive patterns)\b[^.;]*"
-            rf"\b(?:not(?:\s+as)?|rather than|instead of)\s+(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_term}\b",
-            rf"\b{causal_term}\b\s+(?:is|are|was|were)\s+(?:not|never)\s+"
-            rf"(?:identified|established|demonstrated|shown|inferred|supported|claimed|justified|warranted|proven)\b",
-            rf"\b(?:not|no)\s+(?:an?\s+|the\s+)?{causal_term}\b",
-        )
-        if saw_disclaimed_direct or any(re.search(pattern, value, flags=re.I) for pattern in limitation_patterns):
+        if saw_disclaimed_direct or limitation_matches:
             return "EXPLICIT_CAUSAL_LIMITATION"
         return "NON_CAUSAL"