Unloading and ageing experiments are reported for polycrystalline copper deformed in tension at 2 9 4 "~, 1 9 6 "~ and 79°K. The magnitude of the yield effect was investigated as a function of stress, purity, grain size, amount of unloading and the time under reduced load. It was concluded that both the initial unloading yield and the subsequent ageing yield could be attributed to the pinning of dislocations by point defects generated during deformation.