Negation is often used to indicate what a person ought not do. However, at times the use of negation can cause the opposite effect to occur. This phenomenon, termed ironic negation, has been researched primarily regarding mental suppression, such as when avoiding thinking about a subject (famously, a pink elephant) or regulating one’s behaviors (such as during dieting). To investigate the mechanisms regarding ironic effects of negation, and at what level of complexity these effects arise/disappear, we have been developing a series of experiments with a variety of experimental tasks. In the first series, participants responded to affirmative and negative spatial instructions (“now/not left/right”) and pressed the according left or right key. Ironic effects were clearly observable in this simple response time task. In a follow-up study we are currently focusing on how negation in instructions affects more naturalistic tasks. Specifically, in this study a ball moves upward over a computer screen at a constant rate and is moved left and right by participants. The participant must keep the dot along a marked black path as best as they can. Across trials, we manipulate path complexity and movement speed. Importantly, the instructions given to the participant are either phrased in a negated or affirmative manner. These instructions emphasized that if errors occur, they should happen on a specific side of the path. If ironic negation occurs in this more naturalistic task, we anticipate that errors defying the instructions will be made more frequently than errors on the opposing side.