Which one of the following is used for playing video games?
2023
Which one of the following is used for playing video games?
Answer: C. Joystick — Concept: An input device is classified by the kind of signal its design is built to deliver. A pointing device is built to place a cursor on a two-dimensional…
- A.
Mouse
- B.
Trackball
- C.
Joystick
- D.
More than one of the above
- E.
None of the above
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Correct answer: C
Concept: An input device is classified by the kind of signal its design is built to deliver. A pointing device is built to place a cursor on a two-dimensional screen, so it reports how far it has been displaced across a surface. A game control device is built to steer a moving object continuously, so it reports a direction together with how far a control has been pushed away from its rest position - a proportional, self-centring signal. A question of this form asks for the device whose primary design purpose is the named activity, not for every device that can be pressed into that activity.
Application: The stem names three real input devices, so classify each one by the signal it delivers and the purpose it was built for.
Device | Signal it reports | Primary design purpose |
|---|---|---|
Mouse | Displacement of the whole body across a flat surface | Pointing and selecting in a graphical interface |
Trackball | Rotation of an exposed ball while the housing stays fixed | Pointing and selecting where desk space is limited |
Joystick | Direction and amount of stick deflection from a centred rest position | Continuous control of a moving object in games and simulators |
Reading the third column against the activity named in the stem: two of these three devices are classified by pointer control, and one is classified by continuous control of a moving object in a game or simulator.
Cross-check: weigh the two devices set aside and the two grouping choices.
A mouse and a trackball are both pointing devices. They are genuinely used while playing games - a mouse aims in PC shooters, a trackball drives rolling-ball arcade titles - but that is a secondary application of a pointer signal, not the purpose either device was designed for.
The joystick's proportional, self-centring deflection maps directly onto steering, throttle and aim, which is why the standard classification ties it to game play.
Because a mouse and a trackball can genuinely be used to play games, 'More than one of the above' is the tempting distractor here: read at face value, 'is used' would cover any device a game can be played with. The classification reading - the device built for the job - is the one the examining body applied: in the Bihar Public Service Commission's Senior Secondary Teacher (TRE 2.0) Computer Science paper of 15 December 2023, question 76 is this item and its official key marks Joystick. 'None of the above' is ruled out by the same reading, since a named device does meet the description.
Answer: Joystick.