Does an engine carry a memory

Ive watched a u tube video by a well respected mechanic and he advises that we should disconnect the battery and then reconnect and drive for 15 mins the way the new owner drives, because the old owner/driver had idiosyncrasies that follow the car, presumably via some kind of memory thing. My latest acquisition, a 2002 xk8 was owned from new by a lady and she never thrashed it and boasts that she never used the kick down facility. This could maybe explain why my car has a pronounced delay between the pick up response. Is there any truth in this.

By the way the car has done less than 50,000 miles and is perfect in every way, mechanically and ecstatically.