# Learned but Not Expressed: Capability-Expression Dissociation in Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18013 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.18013/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 11 of its 14 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Feb 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.02155/) (2022)
- [Chain-of-Thought Prompting Elicits Reasoning in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.11903/) (2022)
- [Large Language Models are Zero-Shot Reasoners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11916/) (2022)
- [Deep reinforcement learning from human preferences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03741/) (2017)
- [Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08073/) (2022)
- [Pre-train, Prompt, and Predict: A Systematic Survey of Prompting Methods in Natural Language Processing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.13586/) (2021)
- [Extracting Training Data from Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.07805/) (2020)
- [Rethinking the Role of Demonstrations: What Makes In-Context Learning Work?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.12837/) (2022)
- [Calibrate Before Use: Improving Few-Shot Performance of Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.09690/) (2021)
- [Quantifying Memorization Across Neural Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.07646/) (2022)
- [Memorization Without Overfitting: Analyzing the Training Dynamics of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.10770/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models (LLMs) demonstrate the capacity to reconstruct and trace learned content from their training data under specific elicitation conditions, yet this capability does not manifest in standard generation contexts. This empirical observational study examines the expression of non-causal, non-implementable solution types across 300 prompt-response generations spanning narrative and problem-solving task contexts. Drawing on recent findings regarding memorization contiguity and alignment-induced discourse priors, we document a systematic dissociation between learned capability and expressed output. Across three distinct LLMs, ten task scenarios, and both creative narrative and practical advisory contexts, we documented zero instances of non-causal solution frames in generated outputs (0%, 95% CI: [0%, 1.2%]), despite verified reconstruction capability under conditional extraction. These findings challenge the prevailing assumption that training data presence directly predicts output probability, demonstrating instead that task-conditioned generation policies can comprehensively suppress learned content across diverse contexts. The results offer implications for understanding generation dynamics, output distribution control, and the behavioral boundaries of contemporary LLMs.