Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M8899

SCAMPER

SCAMPER
CreateHigh supportDesign Methodology
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

An acronym for seven creative stimulus questions (derived from the Osborn checklist): - Substitute - Combine - Adapt - Modify - Put to other uses - Eliminate - Reverse. Scaffolding role: systematic divergence. When creativity stalls, activate new ideas by going through the checklist item by item.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Systematic divergence. When creativity stalls, activate new ideas by going through the checklist item by item.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Creative checklist method SCAMPER: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify (magnify/modify), Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse (rearrange/reverse). The mechanism is to force new solutions with seven questions.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

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Source support: Explicit

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