Multimodal vs. Text-Only Models in Math Word Problem Performance and Efficiency
Abstract
Abstract: This report synthesises findings from 15 peer-reviewed papers addressing the following research question: Do multimodal models exhibit higher PER than text-only models on math word problems (e.g., SVAMP, AQuA) when evaluated with equal compute budgets, and how does modality fusion impact efficiency. Recent progress in large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 and PaLM-2 has brought significant advancements in addressing math reasoning problems. In particular, OpenAI's latest version of GPT-4, known as GPT-4 Code Interpreter, shows remarkable performance on challenging math. 12 claims were extracted from source literature; 0 were independently verified against retrieved documents. An automated multi-reviewer quality assessment produced a score of 2.5/10. This report is a machine-generated literature synthesis and does not constitute original research.
Research Question
Do multimodal models exhibit higher PER than text-only models on math word problems (e.g., SVAMP, AQuA) when evaluated with equal compute budgets, and how does modality fusion impact efficiency metrics?
Verification Level
| Paper level | L2, Source-grounded claims | |
| Source-grounded claims | 12 | |
| Claim record source | parsed source sections |
Descriptive public verification status only; aggregate claim counts are public, but individual claim records are not exposed here.
Truth-Engine Gate Verdict
| Status | Unverified | |
| Gate | Gate 2 — Verification (formal proof or sandbox reproduction) | |
| Reason | Published before the Gate 2 verification pipeline was activated (2026-06-10). No formal proof or sandbox reproduction has been attempted for this record. | |
| Evaluated | 2026-06-10T06:30:49+00:00 |
This record has not completed Gate 2 of the verification pipeline (a type-checked Lean4 proof for mathematical claims, or a sealed-sandbox reproduction for empirical claims). It is a literature synthesis only. VERIFIED requires an attached reproducible artifact (Lean4 proof source, or repro script and results) before this status can be set; it is not derived from review score or claim count.
Quality Tier
| Tier | Quarantine candidate | |
| Basis | Review score is below 5.0; source-level inspection is required before relying on the synthesis. |
Descriptive public triage only; this tier does not alter current publication or DOI behavior.
Quality Dimensions
| Evidence strength | LOW | |
| Citation grounding | MEDIUM | |
| Uncertainty disclosure | MEDIUM | |
| Reproducibility status | MEDIUM |
Automated triage signals derived from public fields; not human peer review or independent validation.
Correction Record
| Status | CURRENT |
| Correction count | 0 |
| Manifest contract | paper-manifest-v1.1 |
| Correction contract | correction-record-v1 |
Public corrections are additive records. Current status does not claim the synthesis is error-free.
Provenance
| Publisher | Assignee Research |
| Public provenance | L3, Claim aggregate record |
| Report artifact | Available |
| External record | Not registered |
| Claim lineage | 12 aggregate source-grounded claims |
| Review method | Automated multi-reviewer assessment |
| Quality guide | How to read scores, claims, manifests, and evidence links |
| Provenance contract | source-provenance-v1 |
| Note | Machine-generated synthesis of existing literature. Not primary research. |