arXiv:2608.13515cs.CL2026-08中稿 · COLM

不依赖下游任务,用参数轨迹变化衡量预训练中数据影响力。

Measuring Task-Agnostic Training Data Influence Across Language Model Pretraining

论文配图:Measuring Task-Agnostic Training Data Influence Across Language Model Pretraining
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 通过梯度更新对最终参数距离的缩小程度定义数据影响。
  • 早期文学类数据影响更强,后期STEM类数据影响上升。
  • 适用于跨模型配置比较,适合关注训练动态的研究者。

在语言模型预训练过程中,一致地衡量训练数据的影响具有挑战性,因为难以选择能代表模型通用能力的下游任务或验证集,且依赖中间检查点的任务性能会干扰跨训练阶段的比较。本文提出一种无需指定下游任务或验证集的数据影响度量方法:通过某样本的梯度更新使参数距离最终状态缩小的程度来定义其影响,并从中间检查点估算该量,无需重新训练。在 Pythia 与 PolyPythia 套件的 18 种配置上应用该方法,发现有系统性的时序变化:训练初期,文学类数据更贴近最终参数轨迹;后期,STEM 类数据的对齐度显著提升。这一定性转变在不同模型配置间具有一致性。结果提供了一种可操作的轨迹级视角,揭示了数据影响力随预训练演进的变化,补充了基于特定下游任务或验证集的影响分析。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Measuring training data influence consistently across language model pretraining is challenging. It is difficult to select downstream tasks or validation sets representative of a model's general capabilities, and reliance on task performance at intermediate checkpoints complicates comparisons across training. We propose a measure of training data influence that does not require selecting a downstream task or validation set as the attribution target. Specifically, we define an example's influence by how much its gradient update reduces the squared distance to the final parameters of a given pretraining run, and estimate this quantity from intermediate checkpoints without retraining. Applying the method to 18 configurations from the Pythia and PolyPythia suites, we find systematic temporal changes in influential data. Early in training, literature-related data are more strongly aligned with the trajectory toward the final parameters, whereas STEM data become more strongly aligned in later stages. This qualitative crossover is broadly consistent across model configurations. Our results provide a tractable trajectory-level view of how influential data change throughout pretraining, complementing influence analyses defined with respect to specific downstream tasks or validation sets.

数据影响预训练轨迹分析

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