APS Box — Strong, Provisional, and Speculative Dependencies

Not all dependency claims possess the same degree of support.

APS distinguishes between three broad classes of dependency relation.

Strong dependencies are supported by substantial theoretical, comparative, developmental, or empirical evidence.

Provisional dependencies are well-motivated and broadly consistent with existing evidence but remain open to significant revision.

Speculative dependencies are plausible organisational hypotheses that currently exceed available evidence and should be treated as research proposals rather than established conclusions.

This distinction allows APS architectures to remain scientifically accountable while continuing to generate new explanatory questions.

A pathway is therefore not a declaration of certainty. It is a structured representation of current explanatory commitments and their evidential status.