You'll remember a word better if asked whether it describes you
In a 1977 experiment, people recalled far more adjectives when asked "does this describe you?" than when asked to judge the same words for spelling, sound, or even general meaning. Relating new information to yourself builds a richer, more connected memory trace than almost any other kind of processing. The finding is one of the most replicated results in memory research and now underpins advice to make studying personally relevant.