Academic Staff
- HHB703, Hung Hom Bay Campus
- +852 2766 7445
- mingjun.zhai@polyu.edu.hk
ORCID ID
SCOPUS IDBiography
Dr Zhai Mingjun is a research assistant professor in the Department of Language Science and Technology. Dr Zhai was trained in Cognitive Neuroscience at Rice University. Her core area of research focuses on understanding the cognitive and neural representations underlying our ability to process words, concepts, and knowledge, especially how these representations respond to different experiences and contexts. Her approach to these questions largely relies on examining and connecting behavioural and brain measures of similarity between stimuli, as well as the similarity structures generated from computational theories of how information is coded at different levels of representation. She is involved in ongoing projects examining: a) cross-linguistic/cultural differences in conceptual processing; and b) conceptual processing and knowledge learning in social interaction with human and AI agents.
Education and Academic Qualifications
- PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, Rice University
- MPhil in Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- BSc in Statistics, University of Hong Kong
Research Interests
Selected Publications
- Feng, C.*, Zhai, M.*, & Qu, Q. (2026). Taxonomic Semantic Relation Prevails in Object Naming: Larger and Earlier Effects of Taxonomic Relation Compared to Thematic Relation. Cortex, 194, 22-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2025.10.011
- Zhai, M., Feng, C., Qu, Q., & Fischer-Baum, S. (2025). The primacy of taxonomic semantic organization over thematic semantic organization during picture naming. Cognition, 254, 105951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105951
- Zhai, M., & Fischer-Baum, S. (2019). Exploring the effects of knowledge of writing on reading Chinese characters in skilled readers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(4), 724-731. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000604.supp
- Yip, M. C. W., & Zhai, M. (2018). Processing homophones interactivity: Evidence from eye-movement data. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 9812. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27768-5
- Yip, M. C. W., & Zhai, M. (2018). Context effects and spoken word recognition of Chinese: An eye-tracking study. Cognitive Science, 42(54), 1134-1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12570
*indicates equal contribution
- 2026 - 2028
Principal Investigator, Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences in taxonomic and thematic systems. RGC GRF (Project No. P0057701)
- 2017
25th ARMADILLO Annual Meeting Poster Award - 2019
Academy of Aphasia Young Investigator Travel Fellowship - 2019
Rice University Graduate Students Travel Awards - 2019
Rice University Dept. of Psychological Science Maurin Fund
