I once watched (for a short time) whilst my FO handled turbulence so pronounced that it disconnected the auto pilot (a rare occurrence in the A330), the auto thrust remained engaged. We were close to max cruise alt with a narrow gap in the speed tape. Although an experienced ex military pilot and should have known better his reaction was to maintain ALTITUDE. Whilst yoyoing up and down the engines spooled up and unspooled to maintain speed, but slowly enough to be out of sync with his pitching. Within 2 cycles we were going up at idle and down at full power and he was still chasing ALTITUDE.
There is a tendency to want to retain vertical separation rather than admit loss of control.
He learned a lot that night.