Abstract: A method of accelerating the training of an artificial neural network uses a computer configured as an artificial neural network with a network input and a network output, and having a plurality of interconnected units arranged in layers including an input layer and an output layer. Each unit has a multiplicity of unit inputs and a set of variables for operating upon a unit inputs to provide a unit output in the range positive 1 and negative 1. A plurality of examples are serially provided to the network input and the network output is observed. The computer is programmed with a back propagation algorithm for calculating changes to the sets of variables in response to feedback representing differences between the network output for each example and the desired output. The absolute magnitude of the product of an input and the corresponding output of a unit is calculated.