A seasoned cast iron skillet cooks differently than other skillets. You get it hot, and it is an even heat all over and stays hot, so you ahve a very steady heat even when moving the pan around. The seasoning, or non-stick surface (if you will) is oil based, so the heat plus the oil makes it a very suitable pan frying sort of environment. Oil is typically added to the pan, but the oil adheres to the surface all over, even adding to the "seasoning of the pan", the oil does not just pool up in one location.
To simulate this with other skillets, they may have a non-stick coating, but that coating itself is not particularly suited for pan frying, you have to add oil, which tends to pool up and not spread evenly all over. Additionally, other skillets do not spread and retain heat as evenly as cast iron traditionally does.
So, they really are different, and depending on what you are making the difference can be noticeable. Cornbread is definitely one of the items that you can notice the difference with.