"On the other hand, if I'm hiring someone for a high pressure job I don't want them to fail when under pressure."
But those are in no way the same kinds of pressure. The pressure of being able to meet a release date, design incredibly safety sensitive algorithms, etc, are completely different from the social pressure of having someone evaluate work you normally do by yourself, in real time.
This kind of interviewing would work well for the kind of stress a salesman gets, not the kind of stress a software engineer gets.
I completely agree and that's why that part of the interview shouldn't be the only one. As someone said earlier, it should be a negative filter of incredibly unsuitable candidates.
In a perfect setting the interviewer wouldn't evaluate the candidate's ability to solve the problem, but his/her ability to approach it, explore it, ask questions and take steps in the appropriate direction.
But those are in no way the same kinds of pressure. The pressure of being able to meet a release date, design incredibly safety sensitive algorithms, etc, are completely different from the social pressure of having someone evaluate work you normally do by yourself, in real time.
This kind of interviewing would work well for the kind of stress a salesman gets, not the kind of stress a software engineer gets.