Weight-of-Thought Reasoning: Exploring Neural Network Weights for Enhanced LLM Reasoning

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable reasoning capabilities when prompted with strategies such as Chain-of-Thought (CoT).However, these approaches focus on token-level output without considering internal weight dynamics.We introduce Weight-of-Thought (WoT) reasoning, a novel approach that examines neural network weights before inference to identify reasoning pathways.Unlike existing methods, WoT explores the weight space through graph-based message passing, multi-step reasoning processes, and attention mechanisms.Our implementation creates an interconnected graph of reasoning nodes.Experiments on diverse reasoning tasks (syllogistic, mathematical, algebraic, combinatorial, and geometric) demonstrate that WoT achieves superior performance compared to traditional methods, particularly for complex problems.This approach leads to both improved performance and greater interpretability of the reasoning process, offering a promising direction for enhancing LLM reasoning capabilities.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Published
2025-01-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2025.realm-1.33
Primary Topic
Business Process Modeling and Analysis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Weight-of-Thought Reasoning: Exploring Neural Network Weights for Enhanced LLM Reasoning

Saif Punjwani, Larry Heck
Business Process Modeling and Analysis
article

Weight-of-Thought Reasoning: Exploring Neural Network Weights for Enhanced LLM Reasoning

Saif Punjwani, Larry Heck
article en

Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable reasoning capabilities when prompted with strategies such as Chain-of-Thought (CoT).However, these approaches focus on token-level output without considering internal weight dynamics.We introduce Weight-of-Thought (WoT) reasoning, a novel approach that examines neural network weights before inference to identify reasoning pathways.Unlike existing methods, WoT explores the weight space through graph-based message passing, multi-step reasoning processes, and attention mechanisms.Our implementation creates an interconnected graph of reasoning nodes.Experiments on diverse reasoning tasks (syllogistic, mathematical, algebraic, combinatorial, and geometric) demonstrate that WoT achieves superior performance compared to traditional methods, particularly for complex problems.This approach leads to both improved performance and greater interpretability of the reasoning process, offering a promising direction for enhancing LLM reasoning capabilities.

Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
Business Process Modeling and Analysis
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.