arXiv:2603.22754cs.CL2026-03

PRISM通过双视角分析大模型推理过程,揭示错误路径的典型模式。

PRISM: A Dual View of LLM Reasoning through Semantic Flow and Latent Computation

  • 融合文本序列与隐藏状态层,双视角观察推理演变
  • 发现失败推理易陷入无效验证循环并分化为过度思考或过早承诺
  • 适合研究者诊断模型推理缺陷,提升可解释性

大型语言模型(LLMs)通过生成多步推理轨迹解决复杂问题。然而,这些轨迹通常仅从两个视角之一分析:不同推理步骤间的词元序列,或单一步骤内模型各层的隐藏状态向量。我们提出PRISM(Probabilistic Reasoning Inspection through Semantic and Implicit Modeling),一个框架与诊断工具,用于联合分析这两个层面,提供推理跨步骤与跨层演化的统一视图。在多个推理模型与基准测试中,PRISM揭示了推理过程中的系统性模式,表明失败轨迹更可能陷入无益的验证循环,并进一步分化为过度思考和过早承诺等不同模式,且在得出候选答案后表现出差异行为。它还揭示提示工程不仅影响整体准确率,还会改变语义转移与内部计算模式。通过将推理轨迹建模为结构化过程,PRISM使这些行为可观测、可分析,而非仅依赖最终任务准确率。综合来看,这些洞察使PRISM成为分析与诊断LLM推理过程的实用工具。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large language models (LLMs) solve complex problems by generating multi-step reasoning traces. Yet these traces are typically analyzed from only one of two perspectives: the sequence of tokens across different reasoning steps in the generated text, or the hidden-state vectors across model layers within one step. We introduce PRISM (Probabilistic Reasoning Inspection through Semantic and Implicit Modeling), a framework and diagnostic tool for jointly analyzing both levels, providing a unified view of how reasoning evolves across steps and layers. Across multiple reasoning models and benchmarks, PRISM uncovers systematic patterns in the reasoning process, showing that failed trajectories are more likely to become trapped in unproductive verification loops and further diverge into distinct modes such as overthinking and premature commitment, which behave differently once a candidate answer is reached. It further reveals how prompting reshapes reasoning behavior beyond aggregate accuracy by altering both semantic transitions and internal computational patterns. By modeling reasoning trajectories as structured processes, PRISM makes these behaviors observable and analyzable rather than relying solely on final-task accuracy. Taken together, these insights position PRISM as a practical tool for analyzing and diagnosing reasoning processes in LLMs.

大模型推理可解释性诊断工具

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