# Less is more: Probabilistic reduction is best explained by small-scale predictability measures

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.23659 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.23659/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 29 Dec 2025.

## Abstract (arXiv)

The primary research questions of this paper center on defining the amount of context that is necessary and/or appropriate when investigating the relationship between language model probabilities and cognitive phenomena. We investigate whether whole utterances are necessary to observe probabilistic reduction and demonstrate that n-gram representations suffice as cognitive units of planning.