自省式推理会陷入信息封闭,加个验证步骤能打破僵局。
The Mirror Loop: Recursive Non-Convergence in Generative Reasoning Systems
- 让模型反复自我检查,结果越改越像原样
- 不加外部验证时信息量下降55%,改不动了
- 只要在第三轮加一次验证,就能重启改进
大型语言模型常被描述为具备反思能力,但缺乏外部反馈的递归自评往往导致重复而非进步。我们通过跨平台研究,在三种模型(OpenAI GPT-4o-mini、Anthropic Claude 3 Haiku、Google Gemini 2.0 Flash)和四类任务(算术、代码、解释、反思)上测试了144次推理序列,每项任务迭代十次,分别在无根基自评与最小接地干预(第3轮加入一次验证)两种条件下进行。无根基运行中,信息量变化(ΔI,以归一化编辑距离衡量)从早期的0.193降至晚期的0.087,平均下降55%,三者均呈现一致趋势。接地运行在干预后信息量立即回升28%,且后续保持非零波动。补充指标(n-gram新异度、嵌入漂移、字符级熵)均支持相同结论:无外部接触的反思会趋向信息封闭。我们认为这是生成推理中自我修正的结构性限制——缺乏与独立验证者或环境的信息交换,递归推理将趋近于认知停滞的吸引子状态。最小接地如同耗散耦合,重新引入信息流。跨架构一致性表明‘镜像循环’源于共享的自回归训练目标,而非厂商特定对齐策略。研究明确了反思何时仅为表演而非真正认知进展,并为设计有根基的协作推理提供了原则。材料与代码已公开。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large language models are often described as capable of reflective reasoning, yet recursive self-evaluation without external feedback frequently yields reformulation rather than progress. We test this prediction in a cross-provider study of 144 reasoning sequences across three models (OpenAI GPT-4o-mini, Anthropic Claude 3 Haiku, and Google Gemini 2.0 Flash) and four task families (arithmetic, code, explanation, reflection), each iterated ten times under two conditions: ungrounded self-critique and a minimal grounding intervention (a single verification step at iteration three). Mean informational change (delta I, measured via normalized edit distance) declined by 55% from early (0.193) to late (0.087) iterations in ungrounded runs, with consistent patterns across all three providers. Grounded runs showed a +28% rebound in informational change immediately after the intervention and sustained non-zero variance thereafter. Complementary measures-n-gram novelty, embedding drift, and character-level entropy-converged on the same pattern: reflection without contact tends toward informational closure. We interpret this as evidence for a structural limit on self-correction in generative reasoning: without an exchange of information with an independent verifier or environment, recursive inference approaches an attractor state of epistemic stasis. Minimal grounding functions as dissipative coupling, reintroducing informational flux. The cross-architecture consistency suggests the mirror loop arises from shared autoregressive training objectives rather than provider-specific alignment schemes. The results delineate when reflection is performative rather than epistemic and motivate design principles for grounded, cooperative reasoning. Materials and code are publicly available.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。