Suggesting that headings provide useful cues for input/output processing, this investigation examined the utility of intact (topic outline format) and embedded (appropriately positioned within text) headings as processing aids with non-narrative text material under conditions of immediate and delayed recall. Passages were selected from biology (ecosystems) and geology (plate tectonics) textbooks. General psychology students (N=95) were randomly assigned to training or no-training groups. Results indicated that input/output training on use of headings was ineffective in comparison with students who employed their "normal" study methods with the headings; it was suggested that this failure to find a facilitative effect of training may have been due to the limited amount of time students had to integrate new strategies with their existing techniques. Results also indicated that students provided with text containing headings performed significantly better than did students whose text did not contain these processing aids. In general, results supported the assumption that the presence of intact and embedded headings facilitated performance with non-narrative text, particularly at long-term delays, suggesting that these devices may be more useful as retrieval aids than as comprehension aids, particularly when students have limited prior knowledge of subject matter. (Author/JN)