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.

This paper is dedicated to scientific and literary heritage of Galina M. Andreeva. The methodology of social cognition, for more than half a century developed by Galina M. Andreeva as a tool of social analysis, is discussed. The problem of social cognition, first indicated by V. Turner, Z. Bauman and M. Mamardashvili, is analysed in terms of mentalization, interpersonal interaction and mass consciousness. Based on G. Andreeva’s theoretical research, the correlation between micro-processes of individual cognition construction and macro-processes of society in communication, dialogue and discourse is proved.

The issue of finding the correct definition of a group, mass or public consciousness epistemological status is taken as a result of an old trend toward anthropomorphizing the collective cognition subject. This impedes the correlation between personality and society in psychology, meaning “agency” and “structure” in sociology. G.Andreeva discusses the last one, connecting cognitive psychology, social constructionism and activity theory.

Theoretical assumptions of social cognition as the process of world image construction are formulated as follows: 1) presumption of general knowledge; 2) active constructive nature; 3) categorization and classification as the basic process; 4) the relationship between discourse and cognition; 5) emotionality; 6) critical orientation; 7) prospective for the clinical analysis of sociocultural realities.

With respect to the abovementioned facts, it can be said that the ideas of scientific school founded by Galina М. Andreeva allow to innovatively define social psychology as a modern social and cultural epistemology.

The basic domains of qualitative social psychological research, namely social representations, social identity, attitudes, values and ideology, collective memory, the psychology of the environment are considered. Based on the fact that the range of problems of modern social psychology is largely determined by the so-called “social cognition paradigm” the author puts forward an idea about the psychology of social cognition, i.e. everyday consciousness, its functions, values, specific features of studying. The relation between theory and method in psychological research in the context of cognitive, linguistic and historical “turn” in the history of social psychology is discussed. The definition of qualitative research in the paradigm of social cognition is given.The theory of social representations by S. Moscovici is analysed. The cases of qualitative research carried out in the paradigm of this theory, as well as studies of social identity, attitudes, values and ideology, are reviewed. A theory of discourse is outlined and the author’s own method of discourse analysis is worked out. The author also dwells on the subject of innovation in social psychology. New directions of qualitative research development related to spatial and temporal aspects of social cognition are set, that is the way of “vital” environment and the collective (social) memory.

To sum up, the conducted theoretical and methodological analysis of the subject areas of qualitative research in psychology allows us to consider the relationship of subject and method. Thus, the definition of the subject of qualitative research is the starting point of the discussion of methodological problems.

The paper comprehensively describes the issue of the relationship between social cognition and social problems.

A brief excursion into the history of social study in social psychology in this country and abroad is reviewed. The methodology of the psychology of social cognition can be used both for explaining the individual elements of the emerging problems, and for the understanding of the whole process. The essence of ideas by Wundt, K. Levin, A. Teshfel, P.A. Sorokin, V.M. Bekhterev, L.S. Vygotsky and other related problems of social psychology are presented. Current prospects of social cognition in the study of social problems are outlined. The emergence of a new specific industry of social psychology, identified as the psychology of social cognition, is mentioned. Its challenges and opportunities, the development of methods for the study of social problems in today’s theory of social representations by S. Moscovici are presented.

Relevance of social study today is shown. The author notes that a strong need to address significant (global) problems in the society always arises in a period of radical change, social transformations, and from this point of view, the period of reform in Russia is a situation that cries out for the need to study the existing social problems.