In-Context Learning can Perform Continual Learning Like Humans
This work investigates whether large language models (LLMs) can achieve human-like continual learning via in-context learning (ICL)—specifically, retaining prior knowledge over extended multi-task sequences while accumulating new knowledge across tasks. To this end, we propose *Contextual Continual Learning* (CCL), a framework integrating task scheduling, prompt reordering, and distributed practice mechanisms, grounded in human memory similarity metrics and computational modeling of the spacing effect to mitigate catastrophic forgetting. Experiments on a Markov-chain-based multi-task benchmark demonstrate that linear-attention models (e.g., Mamba, RWKV) exhibit memory dynamics closely aligned with human behavioral patterns, including a distinct “spacing-effect sweet spot.” Crucially, CCL achieves an effective stability–plasticity trade-off without parameter updates. This is the first empirical evidence confirming that ICL—when augmented with cognitively inspired mechanisms—can support human-like continual learning.