Reasoning in Flux: Enhancing Large Language Models Reasoning through Uncertainty-aware Adaptive Guidance

Machine reasoning, which involves solving complex problems through step-by-step deduction and analysis, is a crucial indicator of the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs). However, as the complexity of tasks escalates, LLMs often encounter increasing errors in their multi-step reasoning process. This study delves into the underlying factors contributing to these reasoning errors and seeks to leverage uncertainty to refine them. Specifically, we introduce Uncertainty-aware Adaptive Guidance (UAG), a novel approach for guiding LLM reasoning onto an accurate and reliable trajectory. UAG first identifies and evaluates uncertainty signals within each step of the reasoning chain. Upon detecting a significant increase in uncertainty, UAG intervenes by retracting to a previously reliable state and then introduces certified reasoning clues for refinement. By dynamically adjusting the reasoning process, UAG offers a plug-and-play solution for improving LLMs' performance in complex reasoning. Extensive experiments across various reasoning tasks demonstrate that UAG not only enhances the reasoning abilities of LLMs but also consistently outperforms several strong baselines with minimal computational overhead. Further analysis reveals that UAG is notably effective in identifying and diminishing reasoning errors. † Corresponding Authors Question: Janet's ducks lay 16 eggs per day. She eats three for breakfast every morning and bakes muffins for her friends every day with four. She sells the remainder at the farmers' market daily for $2 per fresh duck egg. How much in dollars does she make every day at the farmers' market? Correct Reasoning: [1] 16 eggs per day. [2] 3 for breakfast, 4 for muffins, and the rest for sale. [3] 16 -3 -4 = 9 eggs for sale. [4] 9 eggs for sale at$2 each is $18. [5] So the answer is$18. Wrong Reasoning: [1] 16 eggs are laid per day. [2] Janet eats 3 for breakfast every day. [3] 16 -3 = 13 eggs are left. [4] 13 eggs are baked into muffins. [5] 13 x 4 = 52 muffins. [6] 52 muffins are sold for $2 each. [7] 52 x 2 = 104 dollars. [8] So the answer is 104 dollars.