And I said much the same thing back on the previous page. However, I did take it a step further because we have to teach the student to do the checks in the first place, or they will never be scans supported by a checklist.
For sure, by its' very name, it is a list of things upon which the pilot should check himself/herself. That makes it, in fact, a very beneficial defacto effoh.
It is my contention that most pilots started their flight training using some sort of checklist. If they had good instructors along the way, the checklist -- which started out basically as a "DO list, gradually assumes it proper roll as a support tool. That is, as opposed to staying on as a crutch.
We all had to get in the habit of doing all the checks -- and doing them in a logical and meaningful sequence. How on earth did we all learn that particular skill?? I know how I learned it initially and I know how I passed that learning along to my trainees.
I reckon that the best default situation is to have a checklist, rather than try to wing it without one. This conecpt is as true in a C152 as in a B747 or anything else. You certainly must get to the stage of performing all scans and vital actions at the appropriate time and then confirm off a checklist. But you have to learn them in the first place to know what the hell you're doing in the second place.
The real bottom line, in relation to the post that started this thread, is that we should be encouraging use of the checklist with low-time infrequent flyers.
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Once a king, always a king.
But once a nite's barely adequate!