Just to explain further the association bonus (at least how I understood it from when I read about it): there are some really, really basic things you cannot do as a 1 rep new user (comment, vote, etc.) It is by design: so that you gradually learn how to use the software while contributing content. By having a sufficiently high reputation on another stack network, it is assumed that you are already familiar with those "orientation" issues, and can be safely trusted with the software tools you are given to play with.
However, this does not mean that the new user is already familiar with the cultural/content issues of the new site. Hence for questions which are "protected", which is to prevent "me too!", copycat, or spam answers, the technical-competency-oriented association bonus doesn't count for overcoming the barrier, which actually requires having actively contributed to the website in the form of Q/A.
]]>