Mathematicians tend to be good at solving puzzles. "Read the problem; state the problem; state what you know and what you need to know; think about how you find what you need to know and how to get there.".

That's pretty handy skill for programming.

Some people think that programming is an inherent skill - http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/07/separating-programm...

Other people suggest that you just need to do it. (All those "Learn X the hard way".)

I'd be interested to know what the research says.