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Detecting Hidden Chain-of-Thought in Large Language Models with Linguistic, Behavioral, and Mechanistic Indicators

Armaan Singh, Ryan Trinh Le, Jasmine Kaur, Abdullah Sultan, Edward Lue Chee Lip, Kiran Nijjer, Adnan Ahmed, Vasu Sharma

Compares behavior under neutral, explicit-CoT, and no-CoT prompts using linguistic and internal-state measurements. Its score measures resemblance to CoT behavior, not direct evidence of a hidden reasoning trace; calibration controls expose important confounds.

First public: · Added to this list: October 18, 2026

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arXiv:2608.29956 · Initial submission: 2026-08-30

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