Explaining why reinforcement learning induces verification but not meta-cognitive monitoring

Explain the underlying mechanisms by which reinforcement learning training induces verification behaviors in large language models but fails to produce meta-cognitive monitoring or representational restructuring.

Background

The authors synthesize evidence that reinforcement learning tends to induce verification behaviors, while other desired cognitive elements—such as meta-cognitive monitoring and representational restructuring—do not emerge spontaneously.

This asymmetry remains unexplained, and understanding it is crucial for designing training regimes that elicit a broader set of reasoning capabilities.