i googled this problem and found an interesting thread that tried to explain why "carrot" is the what most people think of [but apparently not in this thread]
link ->
SPCF •View topic - Why do we say carrot?
most interesting answer from that thread
- Prototype theory is a mode of graded categorization in cognitive science, where some members of a category are more central than others. For example, when asked to give an example of the concept furniture, chair is more frequently cited than, say, stool"
...They showed there was less brain activity when the people named the typical response (i.e carrot/cabbage etc) compared to when they had to think of another object within the same category. This suggests that the common answer is somehow programmed into the brain as the first response and therefore takes less effort to retrieve the word. The extra brain activity that occurred when asked to name a second object suggests there is extra processing required to find this word and may take fractionally longer to retrieve. I imagine this is why the trick works when you need to give an immediate response, as the word that requires less brain processing will be the first one you say.
- Culture can also be a factor. Same ngari, gamay ra ang ni think og carrot, naay petchay,ampalaya, etc.
- most common answers to this question is carrot,cabbage,squash