A Stopping Rule after Threshold-Directed Discovery
Abstract
A search threshold directs exploration, while a stopping criterion decides when enough evidence supports commitment. Evaluation should preserve the independently justified terminal requirement and reserve verification costs. It records useful regions left unexplored at stopping. A favorable peak or stable local estimate cannot establish that the broader search task has been adequately resolved. This focused synthesis develops an empirical comparison that preserves the terminal action, observation process, and total verification cost. Its proposed tests are prospective; no new simulation run, model-training result, or intervention effect is reported.
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