cogpsych-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a cognition project fits Cognitive Psychology (Elsevier) and what contribution shape to target. The journal favors longer, integrative, model-driven work that produces a substantial theoretical advance — not a single isolated effect. Frames the question and the model-or-theory payoff; it does not collect data.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill cogpsych-topic-selection --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Topic Selection & Fit (cogpsych-topic-selection) Cognitive Psychology publishes **longer, integrative articles that have a major impact on theories of cognition**. The bar is a **substantial theoretical advance** — usually carried by a **multi-experiment program tied to a formal/computational model**, an incisive experimental series, or a modeling/review contribution. Use this skill to pressure-test fit before investing. ## When to trigger - Choosing among possible projects or framings for Cognitive Psychology - A reader said the work feels "one effect," "atheoretical," or "better as a short report" - Deciding whether the contribution needs a formal model, more experiments, or both - A modeling or review project you want to place ## The fit test A strong Cognitive Psychology paper usually clears all four: 1. **Theoretical advance, not an effect.** It changes a theory of cognition — adjudicates between accounts, formalizes a mechanism, or maps a phenomenon's boundary — rather than adding one more demonstration. State the theory it moves. 2. **Integrative scope.** The contribution is carried by a **program** (multiple experiments and/or a model fit to data), not a single study. Eac
- When to trigger
- The fit test
- Contribution shape
- Fit scoring — worked example (illustrative)
- Contribution-type decision rules
- Sibling-journal fit guard
- Reviewer / editor pushback at the fit stage
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the cogpsych-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a cognition project fits Cognitive Psychology (Elsevier) and what contribution shape to target. The journal favors longer, integrative, model-driven work that produces a substantial theoretical advance — not a single isolated effect. Frames the question and the model-or-theory payoff; it does not collect data.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill cogpsych-topic-selection --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.