Clause structure of sentences and speech processing

Listeners heard narrative stories in segments 20-60 sec long, and wrote their immediate recall for the most recent speech in each segment. Segments ended in four ways: there was a main clause alone, a subordinate clause alone, a main clause preceding a subordinate clause, or a subordinate clause preceding a main clause. Only these final sentences were well recalled. Of these, single-clause sentences were recalled best and two-clause sentences with main-subordinate clause order were recalled worst. An interaction obtained between clause position and function suggests that processing may be delayed when sentences fall to begin with main clauses.