Interview with Boris Zubkov, psychologist |Teen Scientific Research online journal.|

A big 'hello' to all of our Teen Scientific Researchers! 
Our interview with Boris Zubkov is here and ready! Boris is a psychologist from Russia who specializes in experimental improvements to the brain and everyone's lives. He is a psychological software and video game developer with the special 'games' to improve learning skills and concentration.
In our interview we are going to talk to him about the learning life of teenagers and Boris is going to tell us what the main keys in academical and learning success for children and teenagers alike are!

INTERVIEWER: So…You’re an experimental psychologist, what does that mean? What main fields of the science do you examine in general?

BORIS: Eхperimental psychology is the one which studis some particular areas using experimental methods. You have some ideas called hypothesis and you try your best to disprove them.
My main field is unconscious and automatic processes – they things we do without even noticing it.

INTERVIEWER: What made you want to become a psychologist? Please tell us all the details! ☺

BORIS: When I was a teenager I have read a few books about hypnosis and what amazing thing people can do being in hypnotic trance. I wondered if there was a limit to what we can do about hypnosis. I studied and practiced hypnosis and later realized that I need to get more scientific approach.

INTERVIEWER: How does psychology benefit people in life? Regarding school grades and the ability to concentrate for a long period of time, etc.

BORIS: Modern psychology has lots to offer to people we do know many things about peculiarities of human behavior. On the other hand, we actually know so little. But, anyway, we know that school marks are not pure reflection of academic achievements of a student. Teachers may be hungry and your marks will go down – because the teacher's low level of sugar in blood change the mood. The same goes for students, too – if you want to eat you may give up solving math problems significantly sooner, than if you were not hungry. Red ink of pen marking the works of a student usually leads to lower scores, blue – to the higher ones. Red color makes teachers more critical. And such little things can go on and on.

INTERVIEWER: Which psychologist from history do you admire the most? Why?

BORIS: Well this is difficult question. One who came to my mind is Paul Bach-y-Rita – a scientist who made blind people see with their tongue, all by using neuroplasticity. It is ability of our brain to change, at any age, and recover from brain damage.

INTERVIEWER: Is there anything that teenagers could do to become closer to psychology without actually studying the actual science? Movies and/or documentaries? Special games or activities?

BORIS: Well it could sound boring but the main quality is the skill to think critically. It is an amazing ability to see the world and to learn how it is working.

INTERVIEWER: Today’s interview focuses on the use of psychology and how it benefits teenagers and school kids on improving their learning skills. Is there anything that you wish to comment on that?

BORIS: Studies after studies show that one of the most critical approach to study anything – is the repetition. If you repeat and rehearse whatever you are learning you gonna be good at it, without doubt.

INTERVIEWER: What do you think are the main elements in becoming a successful learner?

BORIS: Love mistakes and try to make as many as possible. IF you are not making mistakes – you are not learning. Mistakes forces our brain to learn in true sense. It is like a food for a hungry man!

INTERVIEWER: How can we improve our speed while learning?

BORIS: I think the best trick is to love what you learn, and then worrying about speed and time will be irrelevant. Usually, we have to study something we don’t like, but unfortunately we still have to do it anyway. You can try finding some interesting sides in it, pretending you like it, thinking about what you would get if you get over it after all, and it will trick you to learn better...And possibly faster!

INTERVIEWER: Are there any special applications or books that you recommend young people to focus on?

BORIS: It is different for every individual; everyone has various likes and dislikes. If a person is forced to do something he terribly hates to do, it might not lead to success as a lack of desire to carry on with it. The best way is to ask people who know your interest very well (such as a parent, member of your family or best friend) about what they recommend to you as someone else.

INTERVIEWER: We heard that you are developing your own softwares for learning skills. Can you please explain to us what they are, how they work and the purposes of them.

BORIS: These are implicit learning softwares. They are basically fast methods of repetition, big volumes of data, where you don’t need to think, really. You just need to give a correct answer as soon as you can. You will of-course make mistakes, which is good, and quite soon you are getting better and better. This method brings you so called intuitive knowledge – where you know, for example if you were learning art,  that this painting is by Cezanne but you don’t know why you are so sure.
This method allows you to learn big volumes of new information fast and solid. And when you also apply the traditional methods of slow learning, you become a master. This way, you can study faster and more stress-free for exams or tests. These kind of softwares also strengthen memory and criticism in comparing. Decision-making may also improve a lot.

INTERVIEWER: What do you think is a ritual and everyday steps that a teenager or kid can follow to improve learning skills and speed every day?

BORIS: Learn and study for at least a little time everyday with a sensible, calm approach. By skipping a day or two is also OK. Don’t get stress over it. In reality, most of the information you learn is useless for your life. HOW you learn and explore the world, HOW you think is the precious. So spend more time mastering skills of thinking and observing rather than collecting lots of facts.

INTERVIEWER: Do you remember the experiment that an assistant from Teen Scientific Research and you did an experiment using glasses that turn your vision upside down or mirror-like? How are those glasses called, what do they do? What are their benefits?

BORIS: Oh, those are invertoscopes. They turn your view upside down, and they also turn it around mirror-like. These glasses are used by psychologists to know how our vision and other senses work. There no obvious benefits as it is experimental tool, but surely they boost brain machinery to work harder – as turning the world upside down is an experience you can take easy. So we can say that using such glasses under careful conditions can train brain in certain ways. Invertoscopes usually investigate the time that the brain needs to adapt to a different condition suddenly. Like seeing the world from upside down, for instance. It may take a few minutes to get used to it for some people, while other may struggle for days until they start feeling comfortable with it. Everyone is different because each of our brains work differently. Invertoscopes can help improve the ability to getting used to obvious changes that your senses experience.

INTERVIEWER: Where can people buy invertoscopes?

BORIS: Right now, invertoscopes are not really popular among people since they are a really new invention invented recently. It seems like only psychologists are interested in them right now.
You can get them from producers. I got mine from a friend of mine who makes invertoscopes, so I can get you one if you want.

INTERVIEWER: Who can wear invertoscopes? How often?

BORIS: Well they are definitely not for everyday usage. In some experiment people were wearing them for days, with some interesting results.

INTERVIEWER: What will be the advantages and results of wearing them?

BORIS: After some time brain adapt to new upside down picture of the world around and you start walking as usual, almost. Some even ride bikes, after hours of wearing them. When you get them off though, you brain needs some time to adapt again, so it is better to sit and get back to your ordinary senses.

INTERVIEWER: Are there any negative results, though?

BORIS: Yes, some people instantly feel dizzy after using invertoscopes. This is truly due to the lak of experience and possible lack of fresh air. But it is absolutely nothing serious at all.

INTERVIEWER: What will be the main results in following the recommendations that you gave us? In general, do you think the world will become a better place?

BORIS: World is gonna be better place yes, no question about it! Students will have greater academic success because they will learn to learn everything their own way, at their own pace and with their own methods that suit THEM, not some else.

INTERVIEWER: And lastly for today, what do you think the future will look like for the science of psychology? New inventions? More intelligence? And what is your contribution to the future of psychology? What does the future hold for us?

BORIS: Oh that is the tough question! One area of my research is perception of future and studies show that our brain is basically designed to think about future, almost every other minute. Our brain wants our world be predictable, and thus we may not use our full potential in perceiving our personal future. I am working on creating a method that allows us to tap into our unconscious mind and envision the future we really want, and get the maximum chances to achieve it.
Imagine, you have free couple of hours and go through some exercises and games on your smartphone and get the picture of your desired future and a detailed plan how to achieve it. And you know you will get there.

INTERVIEWER: Thank you very much, Mr. Zubkov, for agreeing on our interview! It was a great pleasure to learn all the new things from you. You definitely will turn the world upside down someday! Your belief in the Brain's unique power and abilities is stunning! Thank you very much!

*end of interview*
That was it for today! We have definitely learnt a LOT from this amazing interview with psychologist Boris Zubkov.
Further resources and references about this interview will be published at Teen Scientific Research during the week, so stay tuned to uncover the explanations and discussing on what we've learned about psychology.

:)

Announcement to all the Teen Scientific Researchers!

Here at Teen Scientific Research, we are soon going to create a rigorous set of information posts about psychology. This two-day course will include exclusive articles about psychology.

Day 1. Interview from Boris Zubkov, a well-recognized psychologist and brain expert from Russia on how to improve learning skills and gain knowledge quicker.
Day 2. Invertscope glasses. What are they and how can they benefit learning?

How is our Planet changing?

There are many cycles and changes that take place on Earth. Some occur naturally, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and volcano eruptions. These things have always been there on Earth and even such tragic things are key to life on Earth.
Other changes and cycles, on the other hand, are caused and provoked by people. These 'man-made' changes are not natural, yet they may include natural resources. Such cycles such as burning of fossil fuels (that take thousands of years of form) and the littering of land and water cause negative changes to our planet. Global warming is a main reason.

The natural changes and cycles have always taken place on Earth. And they always will, for as long as there will be life on Earth. Erosion, for instance, is a natural cycle and we cannot do anything to prevent it because otherwise, it can break all the corresponding actions that our planet does. Erosion can indeed be disturbing, especially when land changes shape and homes can be destroyed by the upcoming land cut platform.
Again, the natural cycles always have a reason behind them.

In Life, everything is connected together and if one element from an activity breaks or fails, then the whole mechanism in total with stop working, too. Earth is at the same situation. The shaping of the land due to erosion, long shore drift and deposition are all parts of a large mechanism due to which our Earth lives. If one element is removed, erosion, for instance, then the Earth as a whole may stop operating properly.
No land will be eroded and every continent will never change. Is that pleasant? It might be easier and safer for building so be built, but there is always a truth behind everything. If erosion suddenly stopped working and nothing on our Planet got eroded anymore, then the result may not be as pleasant...
Since the Atlantic Ocean expands for up to 2-3 centimeters each year due to erosion, then what could happen if there would be no erosion? The Atlantic Ocean staying the same size forever is not something that Nature intended. 
If there is no erosion, then it means that there are no waves to cause an erosion. No waves mean no wind. No wind means hardly any weather. Hardly any weather may lead to droughts, famines and the prevention of crop growth. No crops? Then no farm animals, since they would have nothing to eat. No farm animals? No meat. No meat and crops? No vegetables or fruits? No biscuits or milk? Would that be a pleasant life? No...
If everything on Earth suddenly failed, then chaos may rise...Birds will not know when to migrate and where to and eventually, both animal and plant species will become extinct.

That just proves that we can never, no matter what, go against Nature. 

Yet despite knowing that, we still manage to destroy bits of our beloved Planet everyday.
It might not be that obvious, but what happened yesterday is always a contribution to tomorrow. That is why everyday, thousands of plant species in the Amazon get extinct.
Why? Human activity is key.
Not everyone knows that approximately ten thousand years ago, the Sahara desert was not a desert at all! Back then, the whole of Africa flourished with fresh fruit, green and juicy grass and healthy, constant and reliable agriculture. But now, is the biggest desert on the Planet, the size of the United States of America...And it's still expanding every year.
However, everything changed when the first people of Africa have settled down. Because most ancient African tribes used the slash-and-burn method of agriculture. This means that the farmers would occupy a territory, burn all the trees and bushes and grass to leave pure soil and make room for fertile farming land. But after the land stopped producing food anymore, then the farmers had to leave it behind and occupy more land...What they left behind, didn't always recover from the burning.

As you can see, like this, humans have started destroying innocent land.
Similar human activities still take place today. In the Amazon forest, for example, poor farmers still have to burn down trees and bushes to make room for farming land, but we cannot blame them, they have to eat.
It would all be fine otherwise, but humanity is not a simple thing. We do not replant a tree for every tree that we cut down and everyday, the number of trees and bushed on Earth decreases.
There has even been a belief, among some people, that after a few decades or more than just a century, the Amazon Rain forest may instead be called the Amazon Desert.
Isn't that just tragic to even hear?
Desertification is not a major issue today, though. The thing is, that burning down trees, bushes, fossil fuels, and even coal and petrol (in vehicles) causes a worse thing: Global Warming. The act of global warming can also be defined as the Greenhouse Effect, thought it does not bring any green with it.

When smoke is released from factories, vehicles and Nuclear Power Stations, it settles our atmosphere. The gases that occupy our atmosphere due to that issue are Carbon Dioxide, Methane, The Ozone Layer in the stratosphere protects our planet from Ultra Violet radiations, so it doesn't let anything out either. So, therefore, the gases that are released cannot escape the Earth's area either.
So what do they do then? They pile up from the out layer of our atmosphere and when the gases are close by, then heat is produced. This released heat is called Global Warming and is is constantly warming up our planet. The temperatures rise in many places and even ice caps in the Arctic have started melting. This is why Polar Bears are under threat nowadays and can be extinct soon due to the melting of ice caps and the therefore destruction of the polar bears' habitats.
This is a major issue that we have to deal with in the 21st century. And what provoked it, is simply the act of going against Nature.

A grand day for Science has taken place exactly 41 years ago!!

Let's all celebrate today's day! 
It has been exactly 41 years since archaeologist Donald Johanson has unearthed Lucy - a nearly complete skeleton of a female hominid in Ethiopia. Hominids are our ancestors and are nearly the same to homo sapiens today. 
The female skeleton that was unearthed got its name from The Beatles' song, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
Lucy lived approximately 3 million years ago and her human species had quite small brains, yet they already walked on two legs like us. 
Lucy belonged to the Australopithecus afarensis, which roamed Africa about 4 million years ago. 
Lucy was discovered in 1974, November 24th, so let's all take a round of applause of Lucy- the female skeleton that changed our view of history!