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From Parameters to Answers: How LLMs Retrieve and Use Their Internal Knowledge

arXiv · AI, language, vision and robotics · article · Sep 10, 2026 · UTC

How does a language model's dependence on query-routing information and target knowledge change as it answers a question? We study this question through layerwise interventions on the hidden state at the end of the question. Across Qwen, Llama, and Gemma, we compare country-continent questions with noun, adjective, and code answers while keeping several fitted measurements distinct. A pair-conditioned request direction describes which country is queried in natural single-country questions; a global request direction describes first- versus second-country requests in paired questions; separate

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Evidence & attribution

First collected: 2026-09-20T19:02:05.452Z. This is not the publication date.