Filling in KING-CR___ sticks in memory better than reading KING-CROWN

Classic memory experiments found people recall words far better when they generate them from a cue than when they simply read the completed pair, even with identical study time. Self-produced information beats passively received information. It's why solving a flashcard beats re-reading the answer.

— Norman J. Slamecka and Peter Graf, The Generation Effect: Delineation of a Phenomenon — Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 1978