researchers talked to people about what they were doing the day Kennedy was killed some years after the event, then compared what these same people said they were doing immediately following the assasination
Yes, that is the date I choose above. I was 3 years 8 months old at the time. I can't tell you much about the day, certainly compared to what I could tell you then. I can however tell you about one event that happened that day that I do remember, and a little bit of the aftermath.
The day of the moon landing I can tell you where I was because I remember watching it on television at home. I also remember the Apollo 8 going around the moon at home, but couldn't tell you what I saw and if it included the genesis speech, etc. I also remember some other parts back then but not sure if I saw them at home or school or just heard about them (eg. I remember talk about the golf club but don't actually remember seeing it).
The point is I am able to distinguish what is clear and what is not. People may fill in the spaces to pretend they have clarity, I prefer to say what is hazy. Most of the events I have good clarity on happened in my teens and later. For example I know some thing very clearly about each of my kids being born, yet there is a lot I don't remember around them as well. It has to do with the significance of the event that makes it personal. That is why I remember more about the event that happened when I was 3 than many events when I was 8 or 9, although I remember far more events from when I was 8 or 9.