arXiv:2601.22510cs.LGcs.AI2026-01被引 2

Transformer学算术时顺序混乱,导致推理易出错。

Shattered Compositionality: Counterintuitive Learning Dynamics of Transformers for Arithmetic

  • 用合成算术任务测试模型,发现其学习顺序反人类。
  • 模型在分布微变时错误率飙升,鲁棒性差。
  • 此现象在大模型中依然存在,不因规模或提示改善。

大型语言模型(LLMs)在基准测试中表现优异,但在小范围分布偏移下仍显脆弱。本研究通过在合成算术任务上训练Transformer,并使用与模型无关的黑箱评估指标,分析非人类技能组合的学习动态。我们发现,Transformer常以反向或并行方式习得算术技能,而非人类的层级递进逻辑——这种现象称为“破碎的组合性”。我们进一步证明,学习行为主要由训练数据的相关性匹配驱动,而非因果或程序性组合。由此引发部分技能间的竞争,产生特有的混合错误,且在可控分布偏移下鲁棒性更弱。该行为在现代大模型中同样存在,单纯扩大模型规模或引入思维链提示无法缓解。结果揭示了训练阶段技能获取与人类层级组合之间的根本差异,对推理可靠性与分布外泛化能力具有深远影响。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large language models (LLMs) often achieve strong benchmark accuracy yet remain brittle under small distribution shifts. While recent mechanistic studies reveal the discrepancy between LLMs and humans in skill compositions, the learning dynamics of skill acquisition and the role of data distributions remain elusive. In this study, we train transformers on synthetic arithmetic tasks with black-box model-agnostic metrics for analyzing non-human skill compositions. We discover that transformers often acquire skills for arithmetic in reverse order or in parallel instead of human-like sequential rules--a phenomenon we refer to as shattered compositionality. To explain these behaviors, we provide evidence that correlational matching to the training data, rather than causal or procedural composition, shapes learning dynamics. As a consequence, this non-human acquisition creates competition between partially learned skills, producing characteristic mixing errors and weaker robustness under controlled distribution shifts. We further show that the same qualitative behavior persists in modern LLMs and is not mitigated by pure model scaling or scratchpad supervision. Our results highlight a mismatch between training-time skill acquisition and the human-like hierarchical compositions, with implications for reasoning reliability and out-of-distribution robustness.

Transformer算术推理鲁棒性学习动态

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