arXiv:2507.11367cs.LGcs.AI2025-07中稿 · the European Confe…

不用反向传播就能训练神经网络,提升强化学习稳定性

Local Pairwise Distance Matching for Backpropagation-Free Reinforcement Learning

  • 每层用前向传播时的局部距离匹配信号训练
  • 在常见强化学习任务上性能接近传统反向传播方法
  • 特别适合复杂环境,且训练更稳定一致

强化学习训练神经网络通常依赖反向传播(BP),需存储前向传播的激活值,且多层反向传播常导致梯度消失或爆炸,影响学习性能与稳定性。本文提出一种新方法:在强化学习中通过前向传播阶段的局部信号训练每一层网络。该方法引入基于多维缩放原理的层内成对距离匹配损失,并可选地加入奖励驱动引导。此机制使各隐藏层仅依赖前向传播期间计算的局部信号进行训练,无需反向传播和中间激活值存储。在多种策略梯度方法及主流强化学习基准上的实验表明,该无反向传播方法性能与经典基于反向传播的方法相当,且在层间和跨运行中表现更稳定一致,尤其在挑战性环境中优势明显。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Training neural networks with reinforcement learning (RL) typically relies on backpropagation (BP), necessitating storage of activations from the forward pass for subsequent backward updates. Furthermore, backpropagating error signals through multiple layers often leads to vanishing or exploding gradients, which can degrade learning performance and stability. We propose a novel approach that trains each layer of the neural network using local signals during the forward pass in RL settings. Our approach introduces local, layer-wise losses leveraging the principle of matching pairwise distances from multi-dimensional scaling, enhanced with optional reward-driven guidance. This method allows each hidden layer to be trained using local signals computed during forward propagation, thus eliminating the need for backward passes and storing intermediate activations. Our experiments, conducted with policy gradient methods across common RL benchmarks, demonstrate that this backpropagation-free method achieves competitive performance compared to their classical BP-based counterpart. Additionally, the proposed method enhances stability and consistency within and across runs, and improves performance especially in challenging environments.

强化学习无反向传播稳定训练距离匹配

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