{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7138235635","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","title":"Deeper Thought, Weaker Aim: Understanding and Mitigating Perceptual Impairment during Reasoning in Multimodal Large Language Models","display_name":"Deeper Thought, Weaker Aim: Understanding and Mitigating Perceptual Impairment during Reasoning in Multimodal Large Language Models","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-03-15","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7138235635","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5060194083","display_name":"Ru\u2010Wen Peng","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0424-2771"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Peng, Ruiying","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129650511","display_name":"Xueyu Wu","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Wu, Xueyu","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5085887576","display_name":"Jing Lei","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3104-9387"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lei, Jing","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129724601","display_name":"Lu Hou","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hou, Lu","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129741879","display_name":"Yuanzheng Ma","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ma, Yuanzheng","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5129744396","display_name":"Xiaohui Li","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Li, Xiaohui","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":6,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5060194083"],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.9825000166893005,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11714","display_name":"Multimodal Machine Learning Applications","score":0.9825000166893005,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11307","display_name":"Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning","score":0.002300000051036477,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.002300000051036477,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-reasoning","display_name":"Visual reasoning","score":0.6876000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/focus","display_name":"Focus (optics)","score":0.6384000182151794},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/perception","display_name":"Perception","score":0.6363999843597412},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/process","display_name":"Process (computing)","score":0.5275999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/question-answering","display_name":"Question answering","score":0.44179999828338623},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-perception","display_name":"Visual perception","score":0.43959999084472656},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visualization","display_name":"Visualization","score":0.4009000062942505},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/visual-attention","display_name":"Visual attention","score":0.3785000145435333}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777508537","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7936620","display_name":"Visual reasoning","level":2,"score":0.6876000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C192209626","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190909","display_name":"Focus (optics)","level":2,"score":0.6384000182151794},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26760741","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q160402","display_name":"Perception","level":2,"score":0.6363999843597412},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6262999773025513},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98045186","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205663","display_name":"Process (computing)","level":2,"score":0.5275999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5020999908447266},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C180747234","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23373","display_name":"Cognitive psychology","level":1,"score":0.44350001215934753},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C44291984","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1074173","display_name":"Question answering","level":2,"score":0.44179999828338623},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C178253425","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162668","display_name":"Visual perception","level":3,"score":0.43959999084472656},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36464697","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q451553","display_name":"Visualization","level":2,"score":0.4009000062942505},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2986089797","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6501338","display_name":"Visual attention","level":3,"score":0.3785000145435333},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780878386","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1659648","display_name":"Visual language","level":2,"score":0.3467999994754791},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.33799999952316284},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C164280684","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5529040","display_name":"Gaze-contingency paradigm","level":4,"score":0.3073999881744385},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776401178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12050496","display_name":"Feature (linguistics)","level":2,"score":0.29339998960494995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2983448237","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1078276","display_name":"Language understanding","level":2,"score":0.29339998960494995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C15744967","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9418","display_name":"Psychology","level":0,"score":0.27970001101493835},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.2757999897003174},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.2669000029563904},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C137293760","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3621696","display_name":"Language model","level":2,"score":0.2599000036716461},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776502983","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q690182","display_name":"Contrast (vision)","level":2,"score":0.25619998574256897},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C158495155","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2369151","display_name":"Visual search","level":2,"score":0.2524000108242035},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115086926","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17004651","display_name":"Causal reasoning","level":3,"score":0.25049999356269836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C155911833","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3817354","display_name":"Spatial intelligence","level":2,"score":0.25049999356269836}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2603.14184","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Multimodal":[0],"large":[1],"language":[2],"models":[3],"(MLLMs)":[4],"often":[5],"suffer":[6],"from":[7,41],"perceptual":[8,149],"impairments":[9],"under":[10],"extended":[11],"reasoning":[12,66,158],"modes,":[13],"particularly":[14],"in":[15,154],"visual":[16,34,49,116,155,168],"question":[17],"answering":[18,75],"(VQA)":[19],"tasks.":[20],"We":[21,78],"identify":[22],"attention":[23,35,59,70,88,98],"dispersion":[24],"as":[25],"the":[26,32,48,58,76,85,93,100,129],"underlying":[27],"cause:":[28],"during":[29,136],"multi-step":[30],"reasoning,":[31],"model's":[33,86],"becomes":[36],"scattered":[37],"and":[38,63,92,123,157],"drifts":[39],"away":[40],"question-relevant":[42,134],"regions,":[43],"effectively":[44,127,147],"\"losing":[45],"focus\"":[46],"on":[47,89,119,133,140],"input.":[50],"To":[51],"better":[52],"understand":[53],"this":[54,103],"phenomenon,":[55],"we":[56,105],"analyze":[57],"maps":[60],"of":[61,96],"MLLMs":[62,166],"observe":[64],"that":[65,114,144],"prompts":[67],"significantly":[68],"reduce":[69],"to":[71,131,152],"regions":[72,135],"critical":[73],"for":[74],"question.":[77],"further":[79],"find":[80],"a":[81,107],"strong":[82],"correlation":[83],"between":[84],"overall":[87],"image":[90],"tokens":[91],"spatial":[94],"dispersiveness":[95],"its":[97],"within":[99],"image.":[101],"Leveraging":[102],"insight,":[104],"propose":[106],"training-free":[108],"Visual":[109],"Region-Guided":[110],"Attention":[111],"(VRGA)":[112],"framework":[113],"selects":[115],"heads":[117],"based":[118],"an":[120],"entropy-focus":[121],"criterion":[122],"reweights":[124],"their":[125],"attention,":[126],"guiding":[128],"model":[130],"focus":[132],"reasoning.":[137],"Extensive":[138],"experiments":[139],"vision-language":[141],"benchmarks":[142],"demonstrate":[143],"our":[145],"method":[146],"alleviates":[148],"degradation,":[150],"leading":[151],"improvements":[153],"grounding":[156],"accuracy":[159],"while":[160],"providing":[161],"interpretable":[162],"insights":[163],"into":[164],"how":[165],"process":[167],"information.":[169]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-03-18T06:31:55.123368","created_date":"2026-03-18T00:00:00"}