Here's a funny story, sure to draw scorn from some but that's ok as I'm a big boy.

I was flying the super cub after spending most of my time in the pawnee and in gliders, and the panel layout is different. I flew 3 or 4 circuits looking at the tach and interpreting it as airspeed. It more or less worked, as it was higher on downwind, and lower on final. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the gauges, I had my eyes out the window like usual. When I realized what I was doing I had to chuckle. The airspeed was where it belonged.

I had long considered my skills to be lopsided, better on the stick & rudder, weak elsewhere. I'm now working on the instrument rating, I find it challenging and fun. And, it's making me a better rounded pilot. But I do think it should be a fundamental skill that you can fly the airplane by looking out the window and feeling what it is doing. And, I think it is something you can learn as a student, you don't have to be a hotshot with lots of hours to learn basic attitude flying. But you have to be exposed to it.

-- IFMU