Beyond Solving Math Quiz: Evaluating the Ability of Large Reasoning
  Models to Ask for Information
Authors: name: Youcheng Huang; name: Bowen Qin; name: Chen Huang; name: Duanyu Feng; name: Xi Yang; name: Wenqiang Lei
Published: 2025-08-15 06:42:00

Abstract: Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) have demonstrated remarkable problem-solving
abilities in mathematics, as evaluated by existing benchmarks exclusively on
well-defined problems. However, such evaluation setup constitutes a critical
gap, since a genuine intelligent agent should not only solve problems (as a
math quiz solver), but also be able~to ask for information when the problems
lack sufficient information, enabling proactivity in responding users'
requests. To bridge such gap, we proposes a new dataset consisting of two types
of incomplete problems with diverse contexts. Based on the dataset, our
systematical evaluation of LRMs reveals their inability in proactively asking
for information. In addition, we uncover the behaviors related to overthinking
and hallucination of LRMs, and highlight the potential and challenges of
supervised fine-tuning in learning such ability. We hope to provide new
insights in developing LRMs with genuine intelligence, rather than just solving
problems.