So I was in the midst of a long LD this morning, a little frustrated that I wasn't going to achieve my planned goals (long story for somewhere else), when I remembered your experiment, Gentle. What the hell, I thought, and stepped up to the DC nearest me -- a matronly woman with soft, dark eyes. I asked her for a forgotten memory.
She just nodded, but in an instant I had an image in my head of a moment with my mother that had to go back to when I was 4 or 5 (I am well past 50 now). It faded quickly, so details are unavailable, but a feeling survived; a feeling of security and warmth that only a child can know.
Intrigued, I asked another passing DC -- a young man this time -- the same question. He laughed and said, "Well, there was that time a dog bit you right on the forehead!" Sure enough, I immediately remembered a fairly traumatic (and long forgotten) event that definitely happened when I was around 5: we were at someone's house, and while there a little dog did indeed nip me in the head.
I tried a couple more DC's, but that was all they had for me.
Sadly I cannot prove anything, as my parents are long gone. So empirically-speaking I got nothing for you, but from an anecdotal perspective, I'd say your thesis is sound.
Full disclosure: I have done this sort of thing before, and have found that the unconscious does indeed harbor -- or perhaps secure & maintain for future need and wisdom's sake -- a great store of experience that is generally long forgotten, or simply left behind, by our consciousnesses remains to be tapped if ever necessary... when it comes to knowledge and experience, we tend to discard nothing.
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