This is a descriptive study that analyzes learners' use of comprehension aids such as objectives, a glossary and links between pages in a hypermedia tutorial. Students read a short hypermedia tutorial on the topic of E. coli. Relationships between the use of the comprehension aids and individual characteristics such as metacognitive awareness and epistemological beliefs were evaluated. It was hypothesized that the more metacognitively skilled learners and those with more sophisticated beliefs about learning would use the aids more frequently. The findings indicate that the uses of some comprehension aids are significantly related to some epistemological beliefs (e.g., innate ability, omniscient authority and quick learning) and certain types of metacognitive knowledge (e.g., regulation of cognition). (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)