It is shown by computer calculation that linear dispersion and self‐phase modulation can strongly couple to influence pulse propagation phenomena. Pulses become distorted temporally as they propagate, and, under certain circumstances, optical shocks can form on the leading edge (in time) of a pulse. Some interesting cases are considered for pulse propagation in CS2. The pulse compression scheme of Fisher, Kelley, and Gustafson is modified to take self‐dispersive effects into consideration.