A Simple "Try Again" Can Elicit Multi-Turn LLM Reasoning
On the map: LLM reasoning → Reinforcement learning for reasoning
Abstract (arXiv)
Multi-turn problem solving is critical yet challenging for Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) to reflect on their reasoning and revise from feedback. Existing Reinforcement Learning (RL) methods train large reasoning models on a single-turn paradigm with verifiable rewards. However, we observe that models trained with existing RL paradigms often lose their ability to solve problems across multiple turns and struggle to revise answers based on contextual feedback, leading to repetitive responses. We ask: can LRMs learn to reflect their answers in a multi-turn context? In this work, we find that training models with multi-turn RL using only unary feedback (e.g., "Let's try again") after wrong answers can improve both single-turn performance and multi-turn reasoning. We introduce Unary Feedback as Observation (UFO) for reinforcement learning, which uses minimal yet common unary user feedback during iterative problem solving. It can be easily applied to existing single-turn RL training setups. Experimental results show that RL training with UFO keeps single-turn performance and improves multi-turn reasoning accuracy by up to 14%, enabling language models to better react to feedback in multi-turn problem solving. To further minimize the number of turns needed for a correct answer while encouraging diverse reasoning when mistakes occur, we design reward structures that guide models to produce careful and deliberate answers in each turn. Code: https://github.com/lichengliu03/unary-feedback
Key facts. Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Reinforcement learning for reasoning, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 48 of its 58 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 18 Jul 2025.
Builds on
48 of 58 references.
Closest ancestors · 8
Same direction, newest first
- 2025The Entropy Mechanism of Reinforcement Learning for Reasoning Language Models28 May
- 2025Does Reinforcement Learning Really Incentivize Reasoning Capacity in LLMs Beyond the Base Model?18 Apr
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- 2025Understanding R1-Zero-Like Training: A Critical Perspective26 Mar
- 2025DAPO: An Open-Source LLM Reinforcement Learning System at Scale18 Mar
- 2025DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning22 Jan
- 2023Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Model29 May
- 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms20 Jul
Other references · 40
- 2023GPT-4 Technical Reportcited by 18,396
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- 2020Measuring Massive Multitask Language Understandingcited by 7,963
- 2021Measuring Mathematical Problem Solving With the MATH Datasetcited by 5,371
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- 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,276
- 2017Deep reinforcement learning from human preferencescited by 3,912
- 2018HotpotQA: A Dataset for Diverse, Explainable Multi-hop Question Answeringcited by 3,754
- 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedbackcited by 3,442
- 2023GPQA: A Graduate-Level Google-Proof Q&A Benchmarkcited by 2,879
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- 2022WebShop: Towards Scalable Real-World Web Interaction with Grounded Language Agentscited by 1,251
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- 2023RLAIF vs. RLHF: Scaling Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback with AI Feedbackcited by 625
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- 2025RAGEN: Understanding Self-Evolution in LLM Agents via Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learningcited by 386
- 2024Training Software Engineering Agents and Verifiers with SWE-Gymcited by 336
- 2023MINT: Evaluating LLMs in Multi-turn Interaction with Tools and Language Feedbackcited by 297
- 2024ArCHer: Training Language Model Agents via Hierarchical Multi-Turn RLcited by 228
- 2023TheoremQA: A Theorem-driven Question Answering datasetcited by 192
- 2024Accessing GPT-4 level Mathematical Olympiad Solutions via Monte Carlo Tree Self-refine with LLaMa-3 8Bcited by 158
- 2024On scalable oversight with weak LLMs judging strong LLMscited by 99
- 2023LMRL Gym: Benchmarks for Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learning with Language Modelscited by 88
- 2024Building Math Agents with Multi-Turn Iterative Preference Learningcited by 66
- 2024Larimar: Large Language Models with Episodic Memory Controlcited by 53
- 2025A Survey on Multi-Turn Interaction Capabilities of Large Language Modelscited by 30
- 2022Reasoning over Public and Private Data in Retrieval-Based Systemscited by 21
- 2024HEART-felt Narratives: Tracing Empathy and Narrative Style in Personal Stories with LLMscited by 16
- 2024Parameter Efficient Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedbackcited by 7
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Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2025: 5; 2026: 6.
11 papers.
- 2025Budget-Aware Tool Use Enables Effective Agent Scalingcited by 44
- 2025RL Squeezes, SFT Expands: A Comparative Study of Reasoning LLMscited by 34
- 2025Nudging the Boundaries of LLM Reasoningcited by 26
- 2025Rethinking Thinking Tokens: LLMs as Improvement Operatorscited by 21
- 2026CoVerRL: Breaking the Consensus Trap in Label-Free Reasoning via Generator-Verifier Co-Evolutioncited by 12
- 2025Do Not Step Into the Same River Twice: Learning to Reason from Trial and Errorcited by 3
- 2026Pushing Forward Pareto Frontiers of Proactive Agents with Behavioral Agentic Optimizationcited by 2
- 2026Towards Sparse Video Understanding and Reasoningcited by 2
- 2026Learning to Correct: Calibrated Reinforcement Learning for Multi-Attempt Chain-of-Thoughtcited by 2
- 2026DRIFT: Decoupled Rollouts and Importance-Weighted Fine-Tuning for Efficient Multi-Turn Optimizationcited by 1
- 2026Pigeonholing: how bad prompts hurt models, causing collapse and mistakescited by 0
- 2026Pigeonholing: how bad prompts hurt models, causing collapse and mistakes23 Jun 2026
- 2026DRIFT: Decoupled Rollouts and Importance-Weighted Fine-Tuning for Efficient Multi-Turn Optimization29 May 2026
- 2026Learning to Correct: Calibrated Reinforcement Learning for Multi-Attempt Chain-of-Thought20 Apr 2026
- 2026CoVerRL: Breaking the Consensus Trap in Label-Free Reasoning via Generator-Verifier Co-Evolution18 Mar 2026
- 2026Towards Sparse Video Understanding and Reasoning14 Feb 2026
- 2026Pushing Forward Pareto Frontiers of Proactive Agents with Behavioral Agentic Optimization11 Feb 2026
- 2025Budget-Aware Tool Use Enables Effective Agent Scaling21 Nov 2025
- 2025Do Not Step Into the Same River Twice: Learning to Reason from Trial and Error30 Oct 2025
- 2025Rethinking Thinking Tokens: LLMs as Improvement Operators1 Oct 2025
- 2025Nudging the Boundaries of LLM Reasoning30 Sep 2025
- 2025RL Squeezes, SFT Expands: A Comparative Study of Reasoning LLMs25 Sep 2025
Similar, not cited
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- 2026REVES: REvision and VErification--Augmented Training for Test-Time Scaling
- 2025Unleashing the Reasoning Potential of Pre-trained LLMs by Critique Fine-Tuning on One Problem
- 2026Expanding the Capabilities of Reinforcement Learning via Text Feedback
- 2024Teaching Large Language Models to Reason with Reinforcement Learning
- 2026Re2: Unlocking LLM Reasoning via Reinforcement Learning with Re-solving