How Your Personal Experiences Help You Gain A Better Understanding When Learning Something New
By: Raquel Frakes
Introduction
Going to school at any age requires us to learn new things every day. At times, it is hard to remember every topic or concept you have learned. College is a whole different ballgame, where learning and obtaining new information are crucial for our futures. College can be difficult because of other obligations or even jobs, so it is essential to find a successful method to recall information that you have learned. The Self-Reference Affect is one of those successful methods.
What is the Self-Reference Effect
The self-reference effect is defined as “a psychological phenomenon where individuals have enhanced memory retention for information that relates personally to them. This effect suggests that when people can connect new information to their own experiences, they are more likely to encode and recall it effectively” (1). This effect can be beneficial to anyone needing to retain information, especially when in college. Going along with that, “the self is a fundamental construct in human cognition associated with numerous biases in perception, attention and memory, the self reference effect is seen as a memory advantage” (2). Using our own and personal experiences when learning makes the information you’re learning not just more relatable but also more meaningful, which can help you remember what you’ve learned. Using this effect is not just beneficial when you are in a college classroom, but also with other things as well, if that means a job you have, or even just a hobby.
An excellent example of the self-reference effect is “when you overhear your name mentioned in conversation and, when self-focused, to evaluate ourselves relative to salient standards” (3). Another great example is “you were given a list of words to learn and asked to relate each word to something about yourself, you would stand a much better chance of recalling it later if you were not given the instruction” (4). A personal example I use is relating new information to my future goals. This effect makes learning much easier when you can compare it to an individual experience. You can do this by connecting the new information with an experience or even a current goal. In psychology, I often try to understand personalities by observing my behaviors and those of others.
How the SRE Affects Our Brains
Rogers et al. suggested “that the self-reference judgments produce a ‘rich’ encoding unit that can function effectively during information processing” (6). Bellezza argued “that SRE occurs because the self provides a set of organized internal cues, and the materials associated with the cues are easier to retrieve during recognition/recall tasks, They indicated that the recall of the internal cues generated during learning processes is necessary for the recall of the presented material and that a single-factor theory for encoding processes is insufficient to explain the recall results found in the self-reference effect compared with those found in various control conditions” (6). In a recent Morel et al. study “brain activity was measured under the self, other person, and control semantic conditions during the encoding and recognition phases” (6). In this study, they found that using the self to retain important information was more successful compared to other individuals’ experiences, where relating new information to oneself was more effective.
How SRE Can Help You Study/Learn
“We know from memory research that if you self-reference while encoding information, you will be able to use your existing autobiographical knowledge to provide a scaffold to support memory for that information, increasing your chances of successfully recalling it later” (6). It is also common knowledge that if a topic in school captures your attention, then it is more likely for you to remember that topic. When applying personal experiences and beliefs to your college experience, it’s beneficial because you know yourself best. If you relate to this new information, it’s way more likely you will remember. Creating examples for yourself when studying is very beneficial. Using yourself as a learning tool can significantly improve your memory and give you a better understanding of the information you are being provided. I also think that giving yourself personal examples makes studying and learning more fun and engaging.
Conclusion
When coming to college as a freshman, I know how overwhelming it can be to transition from high school to a higher learning environment. It’s essential to use all your study tools and examples to succeed in each class. Using the self-reference effect, you make learning more personal, which makes it that much easier to understand and grasp new information. With the SRE, you can easily remember any experience you have personally experienced and apply it to almost any concept you are learning in college. This effect will make learning more enjoyable for you. Hopefully, you don’t just use this for your college classes, but also in everyday life. Good luck, future college students!
References
- Hutchison, J., Ross, J., & Cunningham, S. J. (2021). Development of evaluative and incidental self-reference effects in childhood. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 210(0022-0965), 105-197.
- Hutchison, R. J., & Cunningham, S. (2024). The self-memory system. Exploring the bidirectional link between self and memory across early to late childhood. Childhood Development, n.a.(n.a.), n.a. https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.14163
- Lawrence, R., & Xiaoqian, C. J. (2021, April 15). Self-referential encoding of source information in recollection memory. 10.1371/journal.pone.0248044
- Marc. (2018, February 28). Make It Personal: The Self-reference Effect. The Emotional Learner. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://theemotionallearner.com/2018/02/28/making-it-personal-the-self-reference-effect/
- Ungvarsky, J. (2025, n.d. n.d.). Self-reference effect. EBSCO. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/psychology/self-reference-effect
unningham, S. J. (n.d., n.d. n.d.). Improving Learning. Best Post: Self-Referencing as a Tool to (6) Improve Learning. https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2019/4/11-1#:~:text=We%20know%20from%20memory%20research,performance%20by%20nearly%2020%25!
Yaoi, K., Osaka, M., & Osaka, N. (n.d.). Neural correlates of the self-reference effect: evidence from evaluation and recognition processes. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4481146/