The point is that their response may have worked for this particular fault, but would not have worked in general. There is a reason that there are more procedures than "pull back on the stick" - pilots do not know what the fault is.

> they developed an unconscious/intuitive mental model of the plane

If the plane has a fault, it's frequently not going to behave like their unconscious model says it should. In the happy case, rely on your intuition. In the unhappy case, when things are working as they should, follow the emergency procedure.

Sorr, but this is a little like saying "follow standard procedure to put the landing gear down. If that procedure doesn't work, repeat your intuitive action over and over until hopefully the landing gear goes down." No - follow the emergency procedure in place for landing gear fails to descend.

> not communicated to them for cost-cutting reasons

Take it up with the FAA and the airlines?