arXiv:2507.04782cs.CLcs.LG2025-07EMNLP被引 5

发现大模型记错题却仍能推理,因记忆依附于推理机制而非取代它。

Reason to Rote: Rethinking Memorization in Reasoning

  • 用合成数据验证记忆依赖推理中间过程,干预推理会破坏记忆
  • 记忆通过分布式编码实现,非直接查表,且在加法任务中靠异常启发式
  • 适合关注模型内隐记忆与推理关系的研究者

大型语言模型虽容易记住训练中的任意实例(如标签噪声),但在推理任务上表现优异。本文通过两个可控的合成推理数据集(四位数加法,FDA;双跳关系推理,THR)研究模型对标签噪声的记忆机制。结果表明,记忆依赖于可泛化的推理机制:即使在检索记忆的噪声标签时,模型仍会计算中间推理步骤;若干预推理过程,则记忆效果下降。进一步发现,记忆通过分布式编码实现——整合多种输入与中间结果,而非构建从输入到标签的直接查找表。此外,FDA案例显示,记忆通过异常启发式形成:现有神经元激活模式仅轻微调整以适应噪声标签。整体表明,标签噪声的记忆建立在推理机制之上,而非取代它,揭示了‘良性记忆’现象的本质。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large language models readily memorize arbitrary training instances, such as label noise, yet they perform strikingly well on reasoning tasks. In this work, we investigate how language models memorize label noise, and why such memorization in many cases does not heavily affect generalizable reasoning capabilities. Using two controllable synthetic reasoning datasets with noisy labels, four-digit addition (FDA) and two-hop relational reasoning (THR), we discover a reliance of memorization on generalizable reasoning mechanisms: models continue to compute intermediate reasoning outputs even when retrieving memorized noisy labels, and intervening reasoning adversely affects memorization. We further show that memorization operates through distributed encoding, i.e., aggregating various inputs and intermediate results, rather than building a look-up mechanism from inputs to noisy labels. Moreover, our FDA case study reveals memorization occurs via outlier heuristics, where existing neuron activation patterns are slightly shifted to fit noisy labels. Together, our findings suggest that memorization of label noise in language models builds on, rather than overrides, the underlying reasoning mechanisms, shedding lights on the intriguing phenomenon of benign memorization.

大模型记忆推理机制标签噪声分布式编码

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