Nice step toward clarity, but the leading example contrasts a single-test positive selection rule versus a multiple-test negative selection rule. I think it's worth a try to capture that contrast.

Here's a try. A selection process winnows down a pool of applicants (let's call them) to a pool of winners. A step in a selection process, where the steps are applied in a given sequence, is "absolutely negative" if it removes less than half the remaining pool. A step in one process is "more negative" than another step (in the same or another process) if it accepts a larger fraction of the pool.