mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

A Simple "Try Again" Can Elicit Multi-Turn LLM Reasoning

arXiv 2507.14295 ↗First posted 18 Jul 2025cs.LG cs.AIcited by 11

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

  1. 2025The Entropy Mechanism of Reinforcement Learning for Reasoning Language Models28 May
  2. 2025Does Reinforcement Learning Really Incentivize Reasoning Capacity in LLMs Beyond the Base Model?18 Apr
  3. 2025Open-Reasoner-Zero: An Open Source Approach to Scaling Up Reinforcement Learning on the Base Model31 Mar
  4. 2025Understanding R1-Zero-Like Training: A Critical Perspective26 Mar
  5. 2025DAPO: An Open-Source LLM Reinforcement Learning System at Scale18 Mar
  6. 2025DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning22 Jan
  7. 2023Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Model29 May
  8. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms20 Jul

Other references · 40

  1. 2023GPT-4 Technical Reportcited by 18,396
  2. 2022Training language models to follow instructions with human feedbackcited by 15,971
  3. 2021Training Verifiers to Solve Math Word Problemscited by 10,109
  4. 2024DeepSeekMath: Pushing the Limits of Mathematical Reasoning in Open Language Modelscited by 9,379
  5. 2020Measuring Massive Multitask Language Understandingcited by 7,963
  6. 2021Measuring Mathematical Problem Solving With the MATH Datasetcited by 5,371
  7. 2024Qwen2.5 Technical Reportcited by 4,942
  8. 2023Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learningcited by 4,276
  9. 2017Deep reinforcement learning from human preferencescited by 3,912
  10. 2018HotpotQA: A Dataset for Diverse, Explainable Multi-hop Question Answeringcited by 3,754
  11. 2023Self-Refine: Iterative Refinement with Self-Feedbackcited by 3,442
  12. 2023GPQA: A Graduate-Level Google-Proof Q&A Benchmarkcited by 2,879
28 more
  1. 2015High-Dimensional Continuous Control Using Generalized Advantage Estimationcited by 2,026
  2. 2024MMLU-Pro: A More Robust and Challenging Multi-Task Language Understanding Benchmarkcited by 1,848
  3. 2025Search-R1: Training LLMs to Reason and Leverage Search Engines with Reinforcement Learningcited by 1,444
  4. 2022WebShop: Towards Scalable Real-World Web Interaction with Grounded Language Agentscited by 1,251
  5. 2020ALFWorld: Aligning Text and Embodied Environments for Interactive Learningcited by 1,205
  6. 2024OSWorld: Benchmarking Multimodal Agents for Open-Ended Tasks in Real Computer Environmentscited by 1,195
  7. 2023Graph of Thoughts: Solving Elaborate Problems with Large Language Modelscited by 886
  8. 2023Gemini: A Family of Highly Capable Multimodal Modelscited by 872
  9. 2023CRITIC: Large Language Models Can Self-Correct with Tool-Interactive Critiquingcited by 783
  10. 2023RLAIF vs. RLHF: Scaling Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback with AI Feedbackcited by 625
  11. 2024Self-Play Fine-Tuning Converts Weak Language Models to Strong Language Modelscited by 557
  12. 2025ReTool: Reinforcement Learning for Strategic Tool Use in LLMscited by 392
  13. 2025RAGEN: Understanding Self-Evolution in LLM Agents via Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learningcited by 386
  14. 2024Training Software Engineering Agents and Verifiers with SWE-Gymcited by 336
  15. 2023MINT: Evaluating LLMs in Multi-turn Interaction with Tools and Language Feedbackcited by 297
  16. 2024ArCHer: Training Language Model Agents via Hierarchical Multi-Turn RLcited by 228
  17. 2023TheoremQA: A Theorem-driven Question Answering datasetcited by 192
  18. 2024Accessing GPT-4 level Mathematical Olympiad Solutions via Monte Carlo Tree Self-refine with LLaMa-3 8Bcited by 158
  19. 2024On scalable oversight with weak LLMs judging strong LLMscited by 99
  20. 2023LMRL Gym: Benchmarks for Multi-Turn Reinforcement Learning with Language Modelscited by 88
  21. 2024Building Math Agents with Multi-Turn Iterative Preference Learningcited by 66
  22. 2024Larimar: Large Language Models with Episodic Memory Controlcited by 53
  23. 2025A Survey on Multi-Turn Interaction Capabilities of Large Language Modelscited by 30
  24. 2022Reasoning over Public and Private Data in Retrieval-Based Systemscited by 21
  25. 2024HEART-felt Narratives: Tracing Empathy and Narrative Style in Personal Stories with LLMscited by 16
  26. 2024Parameter Efficient Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedbackcited by 7
  27. 2024UNO Arena for Evaluating Sequential Decision-Making Capability of Large Language Modelscited by 6
  28. 2024Large Language Models Prompting With Episodic Memorycited by 4

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2025: 5; 2026: 6.

11 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025Multi-turn Training with Basic Human Feedback Helps Little on LLM Reasoning
  2. 2025Learning from Failures in Multi-Attempt Reinforcement Learning
  3. 2025No Free Lunch: Rethinking Internal Feedback for LLM Reasoning
  4. 2026REVES: REvision and VErification--Augmented Training for Test-Time Scaling
  5. 2025Unleashing the Reasoning Potential of Pre-trained LLMs by Critique Fine-Tuning on One Problem
  6. 2026Expanding the Capabilities of Reinforcement Learning via Text Feedback
  7. 2024Teaching Large Language Models to Reason with Reinforcement Learning
  8. 2026Re2: Unlocking LLM Reasoning via Reinforcement Learning with Re-solving