Unified dynamics of training, learning, inference, and reinforcement in neural networks
Mian Wang
Abstract
Despite their remarkable success, neural networks remain largely black boxes, and the mechanisms underlying their behavior are still poorly understood. Nine nanoGPT experiments established training-learning-inference relations: realized updates elicit state-dependent finite-amplitude responses; learning persistently reorganizes distributed functional support, with target-specific readout-boundary crossings determining capability transitions; inference recruits learned support without changing the learned state. Factors identified in the fifth experiment yielded a direct predictor of post-update capability transitions, achieving 91.43% accuracy and 91.49% four-way macro recall across 5,088 targets. We tested these relations and prediction across five additional neural architectures. In a seventh system, concentrated correct feedback eroded previously mastered skills; rebalanced feedback restored their accuracy from 70.31% to 99.48%. Linking inference consequences to subsequent training closes these relations into unified training-learning-inference-reinforcement dynamics.