At the end of the day, those pilots that have spend years hand flying, will not have a mental demand-overload if they suddenly have to grab the controls.
The thousands of hours I spent on Viscounts, Heralds and F27s, left me with an autopilot somewhere in my brain. After 5 years of not flying, I suddenly found myself height-holding to the thickness of the needle, without really thinking about it. I was typical of every single pilot I flew with in those days.
Summer nights on Viscounts without radar were something of a baptism of fire for young pilots. The guy in the left was just glad he didn't have to avoid flack, so when in the middle of a CB, the horizon bar became lost behind the edges, he would think little of it. It was also a good education in containing one's fear.
I would hate those days to return, but what has taken its place is some kind of hybrid operation - neither skilled master of the machine, or possessor of a computer that is capable of calling on a wide enough spectrum of learned data. It is not a desirable compromise.