
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
There are 16 students who form a $4 \times 4$ square matrix. In an examination, their scores are all different. After the scores are published, each student compares their score with the scores of their adjacent classmates (adjacent refers to those directly in front, behind, left, or right; for example, a student sitting in a corner has only 2 adjacent classmates). A student considers themselves "happy" if at most one classmate has a higher score than them. What is the maximum number of students who will consider themselves "happy"?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user