I agree with your last paragraph in principle, but I think that the pressure of the situation is very different from pressure during the actual work - even if t

I agree with your last paragraph in principle, but I think that the pressure of the situation is very different from pressure during the actual work - even if the latter can be higher if one could give a value to "pressure". Interview pressure seems to me to be much more debilitating and destructive to people's problem solving abilities. I'm happy I do reasonable well and have little fear of interviews (which is good since I'm a freelancer), and yet looking at myself I can cope with normal job pressure, no matter how much, far better than with that during interviews. I miss so much obvious stuff that I'd never miss on the job. So I disagree that the interview pressure can be rationalized with "it tests if you can cope with work pressure". I take any amount of the latter over the former with pleasure.