Domain-general cognitive skills correlate positively with vibe-coding performance, CS achievement, and writing skills¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · no dated study recorded · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Cognitive ability correlates with vibe coding (r = 0.352, p < .001), CS achievement (r = 0.417, p < .001), and writing (r = 0.365, p < .001). → cog-corr

Evidence¶

cog-corr¶

Sverrir Thorgeirsson, Theo B. Weidmann, and Zhendong Su. 2026. Computer Science Achievement and Writing Skills Predict Vibe Coding Proficiency. Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26). https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791666

q3 · i? · associational · r2

In the N = 100 cross-sectional correlation matrix (Table 3a), the cognitive-ability row reads "Cog.0.417(p<.001)" for CS achievement, and the writing row shows the writing–cognition correlation of 0.365 (p < .001); the vibe row shows 0.352 (p < .001) for cognition. Only Pearson r and p-values are printed.

"Cog.0.417(p<.001)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• General Cognitive Ability — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Written-communication skills significantly correlate with vibe-coding performance, but the association does not remain significant after controlling for domain-general cognitive ability — related
• CS achievement significantly predicts vibe-coding performance and remains a significant predictor after controlling for domain-general cognitive ability — related
• Secondary academic performance is predicted by cognitive ability more strongly than by curiosity — related
• Cognitive ability and curiosity are positively correlated in young adults — related
• Mathematics achievement correlates more strongly with learners' knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities than with their personality traits, goals or emotions — a broader claim this one bears on