I've thought some about this topic, and I think that in many flop situations where you've opened the pot preflop, it may make sense to check top pair, particularly when you have position on your opponents (preferably without draws on the board). The reasoning is that many opponents will have called before the flop with speculative hands such as small pocket pairs, and are only interested in either folding or trapping, so there is often little value in leading out (aside from the obvious notion of maintaining value against draws). This will also defuse an attempted check-raise on the flop, which will probably end up saving you money.

I don't think that this is quite the same thing as slow-playing, because you are primarily checking for information. The idea here is that it is very common for an opponent to trap by checking a flop, but very uncommon for an opponent to trap by checking both the flop and the turn, so if it is checked to you twice, you can be very confident you have the best hand and take the pot right there.

Another aspect is that your check on the flop will look like weakness, and will in many cases induce a bluff on the turn by one of your opponents, so many bets on the turn won't be legitimate, and you can raise and take a larger pot than if you'd lead out on the flop, or possibly fold if you are reraised.

Just some ideas.