Not All Rollouts Are Worth Learning: On Trajectory Valuation for Post-Training Reinforcement Learning

Abstract:We consider the problem of trajectory valuation in reinforcement learning: how to identify and mitigate detrimental trajectories during online training. Unlike classification, where data valuation relies on fixed training and validation sets, reinforcement learning involves dynamically generated trajectories without explicit validation signals, making conventional influence-based methods inapplicable. We propose Dynamic Trajectory Valuation (DTV), a simple and efficient framework that estimates trajectory utility at the mini-batch level and filters detrimental trajectories based solely on gradient information. By operating at the optimization level, DTV integrates seamlessly with existing reinforcement learning pipelines with minimal overhead. Extensive experiments across diverse settings, including PPO, GRPO, and DPO, demonstrate that DTV consistently improves performance, enhances data efficiency, and stabilizes optimization.

Machine Learning (cs.LG)

arXiv:2609.35072 [cs.LG]

(or arXiv:2609.35072v1 [cs.LG] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.35072 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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