ModelRefs / Reasoning Model — AI Glossary
Reasoning Model — AI Glossary
An LLM trained to produce extended internal thinking before answering, typically via RL on verifiable rewards. A model class, not a mode or a prompting style.
Overview
Reasoning models (o1, o3, DeepSeek R1, Gemini Thinking) trade latency and token cost for substantially higher accuracy on math, science, and code. They are the default choice for agentic planning and hard multi-step problems.
Reference details
| Topic | models |
|---|---|
| Also known as | thinking model, extended thinking |
| Last reviewed | 2026-06-24 |
Related terms
Commonly confused with
A model class, not a mode or a prompting style. Extended thinking is a mode that can be switched on, including on models not trained this way; chain-of-thought is a prompting technique that asks any model to show its working. A reasoning model was trained — typically with reinforcement learning against verifiable answers — so the deliberation is learned behaviour rather than something the prompt requests.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Reasoning Model?
An LLM trained to produce extended internal thinking before answering, typically via RL on verifiable rewards.
Is Reasoning Model the same as thinking model?
Yes — thinking model, extended thinking are common aliases for Reasoning Model.
What concepts are related to Reasoning Model?
Closely related concepts include chain of thought, rlhf, llm.