Remembering rape: Police interview procedures and complainant meta-memory processes during police interviews

目前报告性侵犯的程序要求受害者多次向法医专业人员回忆罪行。这个过程是痛苦的，可能会导致受害者的再创伤，因为他们对攻击的回忆及其准确性经常受到挑战（Antaki等人，2015）。受害者将这一过程比作“第二次”强奸（例如，Lees, 1993; McMillan & Thomas, 2009）。此外，法律专业人士的轻蔑、不支持和挑战的回应可能对受害者的康复产生有害影响（例如，Ullman和Peter-Hagene， 2014），并不利于他们的记忆回忆。我们的项目合作伙伴圣玛丽性侵犯转介中心（SARC）为遭受性侵犯的个人提供法医、咨询和善后服务。我们将与SARC合作，以获得宝贵的洞察力，了解从业者对访谈的看法，受害者的过程经验，以及在调查犯罪时出现的法律和操作挑战。利用这些知识，我们将利用战略性元记忆过程理论——该理论预测强奸投诉者自愿提供的信息取决于他们对信息是否正确的确信——（例如，Goldsmith, Koriat, & Panksy, 2005），在访谈中开发和测试一种关于元记忆过程的新心理学理论，重点是预防受害者的再次创伤。先前的研究认为，目击者的元记忆表现很差，而且信心是准确性的一个糟糕指标（wixted&wells, 2017）。然而，最近的研究描绘了一幅更积极的画面，表明信心是目击者记忆表现的可靠指标，即使记忆强度很低（例如，Colloff, Wade, Wixted, & Maylor, 2017； Flowe等人，2017）。策略记忆过程理论预测，当记忆编码较弱时，当他们的叙述的合理性受到挑战时，个体会降低信息性，对高标准指令下的陈述缺乏信心。通过4个实验，我们的项目将回答以下问题：(1)受害者在警察采访中遇到记忆准确性方面的挑战的频率，这如何影响他们参与采访和法律程序？(2)法律从业人员如何评估警方约谈时投诉人陈述的准确性和可靠性？(3)记忆强度和报告准则放置如何影响访谈过程中披露信息的准确性和可靠性？(4)元记忆过程和记忆准确性如何受到当前用于访谈投诉人的程序的影响？通过我们与SARC的合作，我们将对医学从业人员和性侵犯受害者进行采访，以更好地了解受害者接受采访的背景，以及这如何影响他们的记忆报告。然后，使用“参与者选择范式”，我们将开发一个交互式约会场景，并使用标准的两阶段警察协议采访参与者。指令将被用来操纵参与者的记忆报告标准（高标准、低标准和当前警察指令）。在一项研究中，我们将通过操纵情景编码和访谈之间的保留间隔来改变记忆强度，在另一项研究中，我们将改变参与者是否对他们的自由回忆账户的准确性提出质疑。准确性将通过确定采访中报告的正确和错误细节的数量来衡量，信心将通过表达（不）确定性来收集。该项目将有助于研究警察采访过程中投诉人的元记忆过程，以及如何通过实施创伤知情协议更好地进行这些采访，以确保预防再次创伤。

The current processes involved in reporting a sexual assault requires victims to recollect the offense multiple times to medicolegal professionals. This process is distressing and can contribute to victim re-traumatisation, as their recollections of the offense and their accuracy are often challenged (Antaki et al, 2015). Victims have likened the process to a 'second' rape (e.g., Lees, 1993; McMillan & Thomas, 2009). Additionally, dismissive, non-supportive and challenging responses from legal professionals can be deleterious effects to victims' recovery (e.g., Ullman & Peter-Hagene, 2014), and be detrimental to their memory recall. Our project partner, Saint Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), provides forensic, counselling and aftercare services to individuals who have been sexually violated. We will collaborate with SARC to gain invaluable insight into practitioner's perceptions of interviews, victims experiences of the process, and the legal and operational challenges that arise in investigating offenses. Using this knowledge, we will then draw on strategic meta-memory process theory - which predicts information volunteered by rape complainants depends on their certainty that the information is correct - (e.g., Goldsmith, Koriat, & Panksy, 2005) to develop and test a new psychological theory about meta-memory processes during interviews, with a focus on the prevention of re-traumatisation of victims. Previous research has argued that eyewitness meta-memory performance is poor, and that confidence is a poor indicator of accuracy (Wixted & Wells, 2017). However, recent research paints a more positive picture in showing that confidence is a reliable indicator of eyewitness memory performance, even when memory strength is low (e.g., Colloff, Wade, Wixted, & Maylor, 2017; Flowe et al., 2017). Strategic memorial process theories predict that when memory encoding is weak, and when the plausibility of their account is challenged individuals will decrease the informativeness and be less confident of their statements under high criterion instructions. Across 4 experiments, our project will answer the following questions: (1) How often do victims experience challenges regarding the accuracy of their memory during police interviews, and how does this affect their engagement with the interview and legal process? (2) How do legal practitioners evaluate the accuracy and reliability of complainant statements during police interviews? (3) How does memory strength and report criterion placement affect the accuracy and reliability of information disclosed over the course of the interview? (4) How are meta-memory processes and memory accuracy affected by the current procedures that are used to interview complainants? Through our collaboration with SARC, interviews with medicolegal practitioners and victims of sexual assault will be conducted to better understand the context in which victims are interviewed and how this affects their memory reporting. Then, using the 'participants choice paradigm', we will develop an interactive dating scenario and interview participants using a standard two-phase police protocol. Instructions will be used to manipulate participant's memory report criterion (high criterion, low criterion, and current police instructions). We will vary memory strength by manipulating the retention interval between scenario encoding and the interview in one study and vary whether the participant is challenged about the accuracy of their free recall account in another. Accuracy will be measured by determining the number of correct and incorrect details reported during the interview, and confidence will be collected through expressions of (un)certainty. This project will contribute to research on complainant meta-memory processes during police interviews, and how these interviews can be better conducted through the implementation of trauma--informed protocols to ensure the prevention of re-traumatisation.