Do Retrieval Augmented Language Models Know When They Don't Know? (2509.01476v1)

Abstract: Existing LLMs occasionally generate plausible yet factually incorrect responses, known as hallucinations. Researchers are primarily using two approaches to mitigate hallucinations, namely Retrieval Augmented LLMs (RALMs) and refusal post-training. However, current research predominantly emphasizes their individual effectiveness while overlooking the evaluation of the refusal capability of RALMs. In this study, we ask the fundamental question: Do RALMs know when they don't know? Specifically, we ask three questions. First, are RALMs well-calibrated regarding different internal and external knowledge states? We examine the influence of various factors. Contrary to expectations, we find that LLMs exhibit significant \textbf{over-refusal} behavior. Then, how does refusal post-training affect the over-refusal issue? We investigate the Refusal-aware Instruction Tuning and In-Context Fine-tuning methods. Our results show that the over-refusal problem is mitigated by In-context fine-tuning. but magnified by R-tuning. However, we also find that the refusal ability may conflict with the quality of the answer. Finally, we develop a simple yet effective refusal method for refusal post-trained models to improve their overall answer quality in terms of refusal and correct answers. Our study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of important factors on RALM systems.