From Factuality to Meta-Factivity: A Cognitive Blueprint for Trustworthy LLMs

Liu Daohuan, Xia Lun, Yuer Wang, Jiaoyang Su, Xuri Tang


Abstract
Current research on Event Factuality Prediction (EFP) predominantly treats LLMs as passive classifiers, where high aggregate metrics often mask shortcut learning and unreliable reasoning. In this position paper, we argue for a focus shift from event factuality to meta-factivity. We introduce the Meta-Factivity Framework (MFF), a theoretical roadmap that moves evaluation beyond surface recognition to belief trajectory reasoning and epistemic regulation. By framing hallucination as a failure of meta-cognitive control, we advocate for a transition from measuring black-box accuracy to evaluating white-box cognition, laying the groundwork for a more rigorous benchmark for explainable self-governance.
Anthology ID:
2026.acl-short.7
Volume:
Proceedings of the 64th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 2: Short Papers)
Month:
July
Year:
2026
Address:
San Diego, California, United States
Editors:
Maria Liakata, Viviane P. Moreira, Jiajun Zhang, David Jurgens
Venue:
ACL
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
62–69
Language:
URL:
https://preview.aclanthology.org/ingest-acl/2026.acl-short.7/
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Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Liu Daohuan, Xia Lun, Yuer Wang, Jiaoyang Su, and Xuri Tang. 2026. From Factuality to Meta-Factivity: A Cognitive Blueprint for Trustworthy LLMs. In Proceedings of the 64th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 2: Short Papers), pages 62–69, San Diego, California, United States. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
From Factuality to Meta-Factivity: A Cognitive Blueprint for Trustworthy LLMs (Daohuan et al., ACL 2026)
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https://preview.aclanthology.org/ingest-acl/2026.acl-short.7.pdf
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