▁representation , ▁which ▁will ▁make ▁the ▁representations ▁of ▁the ▁different ▁inputs ▁overlap ▁less ▁at ▁the ▁hidden ▁layer . ▁ ▁French ▁recommended ▁that ▁this ▁could ▁be ▁done ▁through ▁' activ ation ▁sh ar pen ing ', ▁a ▁technique ▁which ▁slightly ▁increases ▁the ▁activation ▁of ▁a ▁certain ▁number ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁active ▁nodes ▁in ▁the ▁hidden ▁layer , ▁slightly ▁reduces ▁the ▁activation ▁of ▁all ▁the ▁other ▁units ▁and ▁then ▁changes ▁the ▁input - to - hidden ▁layer ▁weights ▁to ▁reflect ▁these ▁activation ▁changes ▁( similar ▁to ▁error ▁back prop ag ation ). ▁Over all ▁the ▁gu idel ines ▁for ▁the ▁process ▁of ▁' activ ation ▁sh ar pen ing ' ▁are ▁as ▁follows : ▁▁ ▁Perform ▁a ▁forward ▁activation ▁pass ▁by ▁feed ing ▁an ▁input ▁from ▁the ▁input ▁layer ▁to ▁the ▁hidden ▁layer ▁and ▁record ▁the ▁activ ations ▁at ▁the ▁hidden ▁layer ▁ ▁" Sh ar pen " ▁the ▁activation ▁of ▁x ▁number ▁of ▁most ▁active ▁nodes ▁by ▁a ▁sh ar pen ing ▁factor ▁α : ▁ ▁A new ▁= ▁A old ▁+ ▁α ( 1 - ▁A old ) ▁ <0x09> <0x09> For ▁nodes ▁to ▁be ▁sh ar pen ed , ▁i . e . ▁more ▁activ ated ▁ ▁A new ▁= ▁A old ▁– ▁α A old <0x09> ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ ▁For ▁all ▁other ▁nodes ▁ ▁French ▁suggested ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁nodes ▁to ▁be ▁sh ar pen ed ▁should ▁be ▁log ▁n ▁nodes , ▁where ▁n ▁is ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁hidden ▁layer ▁nodes ▁▁ <0x09> Use ▁the ▁difference ▁between ▁the ▁old ▁activation ▁( A old