English
Related papers

Related papers: Brittle Minds, Fixable Activations: Understanding …

200 papers

For Large Language Models (LLMs) to be reliable, they must learn robust knowledge that can be generally applied in diverse settings -- often unlike those seen during training. Yet, extensive research has shown that LLM performance can be…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-10-15 Patrick Haller , Mark Ibrahim , Polina Kirichenko , Levent Sagun , Samuel J. Bell

While recent studies explore Large Language Models' (LLMs) performance on Theory of Mind (ToM) reasoning tasks, research on ToM abilities that require more nuanced social context is limited, such as white lies. We introduce TactfulToM, a…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-09-26 Yiwei Liu , Emma Jane Pretty , Jiahao Huang , Saku Sugawara

This paper investigates whether LMs recruit shared computational mechanisms for general Theory of Mind (ToM) and language-specific pragmatic reasoning in order to contribute to the general question of whether LMs may be said to have…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-04-28 Polina Tsvilodub , Jan-Felix Klumpp , Amir Mohammadpour , Jennifer Hu , Michael Franke

A growing body of work attempts to evaluate the theory of mind (ToM) abilities of humans and large language models (LLMs) using static, non-interactive question-and-answer benchmarks. However, theoretical work in the field suggests that…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-02-20 Jared Moore , Rasmus Overmark , Ned Cooper , Beba Cibralic , Nick Haber , Cameron R. Jones

Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to attribute mental states to others and predict their behaviour, is fundamental to social intelligence. In this paper, we survey studies evaluating behavioural and representational ToM in Large Language…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-02-11 Hieu Minh "Jord" Nguyen

Theory of Mind (ToM) reasoning entails recognizing that other individuals possess their own intentions, emotions, and thoughts, which is vital for guiding one's own thought processes. Although large language models (LLMs) excel in tasks…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2024-06-11 Maryam Amirizaniani , Elias Martin , Maryna Sivachenko , Afra Mashhadi , Chirag Shah

Recent evidence suggests Large Language Models (LLMs) display Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities. Most ToM experiments place participants in a spectatorial role, wherein they predict and interpret other agents' behavior. However, human ToM also…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-07-23 Jared Moore , Ned Cooper , Rasmus Overmark , Beba Cibralic , Nick Haber , Cameron R. Jones

Recent work shows activation steering substantially improves language models' Theory of Mind (ToM) (Bortoletto et al. 2024), yet the mechanisms of what changes occur internally that leads to different outputs remains unclear. We propose…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-11-21 Ivan Chulo , Ananya Joshi

With their recent development, large language models (LLMs) have been found to exhibit a certain level of Theory of Mind (ToM), a complex cognitive capacity that is related to our conscious mind and that allows us to infer another's beliefs…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2023-09-06 Mohsen Jamali , Ziv M. Williams , Jing Cai

Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated impressive mathematical reasoning capabilities, yet their performance remains brittle to minor variations in problem description and prompting strategy. Furthermore, reasoning is vulnerable to…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-06-23 Sam Silver , Jimin Sun , Ivan Zhang , Sara Hooker , Eddie Kim

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the cognitive ability to infer and attribute mental states to oneself and others. As large language models (LLMs) are increasingly evaluated for social and cognitive capabilities, it remains unclear to what…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2024-11-26 Jayanta Sadhu , Ayan Antik Khan , Noshin Nawal , Sanju Basak , Abhik Bhattacharjee , Rifat Shahriyar

Theory of Mind (ToM) in Large Language Models (LLMs) refers to the model's ability to infer the mental states of others, with failures in this ability often manifesting as systemic implicit biases. Assessing this challenge is difficult, as…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-01-19 Yanlin Li , Hao Liu , Huimin Liu , Kun Wang , Yinwei Wei , Yupeng Hu

Large language models (LLMs) perform substantially below human level on existing theory-of-mind (ToM) benchmarks, even when augmented with chain-of-thought prompting or probabilistic belief updates. We argue that these failures primarily…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-04-21 Wang Bill Zhu , Qiutong Tony Yi , Robin Jia , Jesse Thomason

Human interactions are deeply rooted in the interplay of thoughts, beliefs, and desires made possible by Theory of Mind (ToM): our cognitive ability to understand the mental states of ourselves and others. Although ToM may come naturally to…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2023-11-20 Alex Wilf , Sihyun Shawn Lee , Paul Pu Liang , Louis-Philippe Morency

Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown potential in simulating human behaviors and performing theory-of-mind (ToM) reasoning, a crucial skill for complex social interactions. In this study, we investigate the role of ToM reasoning in…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-06-02 Neemesh Yadav , Palakorn Achananuparp , Jing Jiang , Ee-Peng Lim

Research on mental state reasoning in language models (LMs) has the potential to inform theories of human social cognition--such as the theory that mental state reasoning emerges in part from language exposure--and our understanding of LMs…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-02-19 Sean Trott , Samuel Taylor , Cameron Jones , James A. Michaelov , Pamela D. Rivière

Theory of Mind (ToM) reasoning with Large Language Models (LLMs) requires inferring how people's implicit, evolving beliefs shape what they seek and how they act under uncertainty -- especially in high-stakes settings such as disaster…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-03-23 Ruxiao Chen , Xilei Zhao , Thomas J. Cova , Frank A. Drews , Susu Xu

Theory of Mind (ToM) assesses whether models can infer hidden mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions, which is essential for natural social interaction. Although recent progress in Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) has boosted…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-03-05 Nanxu Gong , Haotian Li , Sixun Dong , Jianxun Lian , Yanjie Fu , Xing Xie

In recent years, evaluating the Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities of large language models (LLMs) has received significant attention within the research community. As the field rapidly evolves, navigating the diverse approaches and…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-02-14 Karahan Sarıtaş , Kıvanç Tezören , Yavuz Durmazkeser

Recent empirical results have sparked a debate about whether or not Large Language Models (LLMs) are capable of Theory of Mind (ToM). While some have found LLMs to be successful on ToM evaluations such as the False Belief task, others have…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-05-29 Zhiqiang Pi , Annapurna Vadaparty , Benjamin K. Bergen , Cameron R. Jones