The Cognitive Baseline Mismatch (CBM) Framework: A Dual-Purpose Model of Translation Asymmetry and the Etiology of Interpersonal Conflict

This paper presents the Cognitive Baseline Mismatch (CBM) framework, a dual-purpose trans-

lational research model designed to investigate intractable interpersonal conflicts through the

lens of cognitive decoding. Traditionally, dyadic conflict is analyzed through attachment

pathology or behavioral interaction cycles. The CBM framework offers a neurocognitive alter-

native, hypothesizing that human communicative processing involves interacting dimensions

anchored by an Observer baseline (prioritizing structural syntax and low-context data) and

an Experiencer baseline (prioritizing relational data and affective prosody). While congru-

ent baseline communication minimizes friction, cross-baseline interactions reliably generate

Translation Asymmetry, characterized by specific decoding errors: Filtering Errors executed

by Observers, and Misassignment Errors executed by Experiencers. This paper outlines an

empirical research program to test the hypothesis that neurocognitive traits, cultural context-

orientation, and hemispheric channel weighting correlate within individuals. Simultaneously,

the framework offers immediate clinical utility as a psychoeducational heuristic, evaluating

how metacognitive and systemic interventions might conceptually bypass content-level argu-

mentation to foster structural acceptance.