Matthew Mak

I am a DPhil student at ReadOxford. Broadly speaking, I am interested in how reading skills are acquired and how memory is formed. I study how short-term word memory become long-term and what factors (e.g., contexts, nocturnal sleep) influence this process. I am also interested in why some individuals experience great difficulty learning how to read.

You can visit my Department of Experimental Psychology website here.

My favourite word is “silhouette”. It looks and sounds so different from most English words. The word reminds me of awe-inspiring sunsets and the alluring mystery of darkness. The word also has an indescribable sense of forlornness to it. The fact that it can used as a noun or a verb is another reason why I love it – I love flexibility in words!

My favourite children’s book is the series of Mr. Men/Little Miss _________ by Roger Hargreaves. The beautiful illustrations were the major reason why I loved it. More importantly, I learnt the importance of good qualities from the books because characters like Mr. Smart, Mr. Good, Mr. Brave are always praised/rewarded while characters like Mr. Mean, Mr. Noisy, Mr. Greedy are not. Also worth mentioning is a novel called “The Other Side of the Bridge” by Mary Lawson. I have read this book at least 10 times and am still fascinated by it.