Abstract
The remarkable performance of the o1 model in complex reasoning demonstrates that test-time compute scaling can further unlock the model’s potential, enabling powerful System-2 thinking. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive surveys for test-time compute scaling. We trace the concept of test-time compute back to System-1 models. In System-1 models, test-time compute addresses distribution shifts and improves robustness and generalization through parameter updating, input modification, representation editing, and output calibration. In System-2 models, it enhances the model’s reasoning ability to solve complex problems through repeated sampling, self-correction, and tree search. We organize this survey according to the trend of System-1 to System-2 thinking, highlighting the key role of test-time compute in the transition from System-1 models to weak System-2 models, and then to strong System-2 models. We also point out advanced topics and future directions.1
- Anthology ID:
- 2026.cl-3.10
- Volume:
- [Computational Linguistics, Volume 52, Issue 3 - September 2026](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/2026.cl-3/)
- Month:
- September
- Year:
- 2026
- Address:
- Cambridge, MA
- Venue:
- [CL](https://aclanthology.org/venues/cl/)
- SIG:
- Publisher:
- MIT Press
- Note:
- Pages:
- 1253–1307
- Language:
- URL:
- [https://aclanthology.org/2026.cl-3.10/](https://aclanthology.org/2026.cl-3.10/)
- DOI:
- [10.1162/coli.a.629](https://doi.org/10.1162/coli.a.629)
- Cite (ACL):
- Yixin Ji, Juntao Li, Yang Xiang, Hai Ye, Kaixin Wu, Kai Yao, Jia Xu, Linjian Mo, and Min Zhang. 2026. A Survey of Test-time Compute: From Intuitive Inference to Deliberate Reasoning .Computational Linguistics , 52(3):1253–1307.
- Cite (Informal):
- [A Survey of Test-time Compute: From Intuitive Inference to Deliberate Reasoning](https://aclanthology.org/2026.cl-3.10/) (Ji et al., CL 2026)
- PDF:
- [https://aclanthology.org/2026.cl-3.10.pdf](https://aclanthology.org/2026.cl-3.10.pdf)