One Verdict Is Not Enough: Regression Testing Learned World Models and Their Test Harnesses

Abstract

Learned world models ship as software components whose model versions, preprocessing, and test harnesses change between releases. Work on model updates already counts per-sample regressions, or negative flips, that an accuracy check hides. Two problems remain: a test can pass under one configuration and fail under another, and a harness fault can produce erroneous scores and wrong verdicts without a crash. We present TetraState, a regression-testing protocol for paired possible/impossible video tests. Each test runs under four fixed model-native configurations; its number of correct verdicts assigns one of four outcome classes. Inconclusive tests and failed executions are reported separately alongside the verdict rate. Revisions are compared by per-test outcome transitions, and the harness is versioned as part of the system under test. On all 506 IntPhys 2 Main tests and two heterogeneous systems, Cosmos 3 Nano and V-JEPA 2, two V-JEPA 2 harness revisions move modal accuracy by only 0.2 and 2.6 points yet change 11 and 214 test labels; in the second, accuracy rises although fewer tests are judged correctly, and 43 regressions keep the modal verdict, so a modal-verdict flip check misses them. These results outline a research agenda on configuration-level regression oracles for learned components.