Sense memory is one useful tool in the director's toolbox. Some actors don't like it, because what you're seeing is their memory rather than the character's memory. They feel that it creates inauthentic performances. I know that may sound silly, but a lot of acting technique sounds silly until you realize that they're trying to not just rely on their own habits. That's what leads to actors being accused of "playing themselves in every movie".

(It also leads to directors abusing that privilege, getting "real" emotions in highly negative situations. Like the way Shelley Duval was reportedly terrorized by Stanley Kubrik while shooting The Shining.)

The director has to assemble the team that they want, who will respond to the toolkit that they're using. In the end it doesn't matter what it takes, as long as you get the shot you want in the can. (And complying with ethics, a thing that has too often been ignored.) I'll sometimes even use the worst tool a director has, feeding actors line readings, though only when they ask and nothing else has worked.