The paper is devoted to analysis of the potential of P.Ya.Galperin’s theory of gradual development of human intellectual activity for studying social cognition in children. In this area of studies the theory of gradual development of human intellectual activitycan be used to understand the child ability to manage the interpersonal situation of conflicts and to develop complex communicative skills.

There are three main areas that can employ the notions of P.Ya.Galperin’s theory. The first one relies on this method in teaching practice. The second one is devoted to the study of how social interaction in developing mental actions affects the process of gradual development of human intellectual activity and the characteristics of this activity. Within the third area, this method can be used to study the development of social knowledge in childhood.

The paper includes the examples of the experimental modeling of communicative situations as conditions for unfolding orientation processes and subsequent development of social and intellectual strategies for resolving problem in communicative situations.

The theory and method of gradual development of human intellectual activity allows to outline new directions in the research of social cognition in childhood according to three areas, namely, change of conventional practices of training communicative skills in childhood; development of the cognitive component of social emotional and communicative competence; description and elaboration of age-specific and developmental abilities to survive in complex communicative situations and plan future actions, which is a necessary condition for the development of social intelligence.

The experiments carried out within the framework of the research analysed participants’ ability to manage interpersonal relations in communicative situations. The orientational strategies used by children ib the course of the experiments were closely studied and classified.

We discuss evolutionary precursors of social intelligence in complex social systems, and dostinguish levels, forms ans types of social intelligence in humans. On the basis of experimental studies of social intelligence in children, we distinguish high, middle and low levels of social intelligence.. The importance of distinguishing levels, forms and types of social intelligence for a number of theoretical and practical issues of preparing a modern child for the effective appropriation of (and functioning in) complex social systems is accentuated.

The problems of social intelligence in the form of deception and manipulation in adults and children. Those cases are considered when the deception does not contradict the moral norms. Children use social intelligence in the form of cheating an adult as a necessary prerequisite of a free moral choice and the subsequent internal moral motivation.