Influence Mechanism of Bridge Sign Complexity on Cognitive Characteristics of Drivers’ Electroencephalogram

Normative documents about design and application of bridge signs are unavailable, while the complex bridge signs affect drivers’ recognition, which further impairs traffic efficiency and traffic safety. In order to clarify the influence of bridge sign complexity on the cognitive processing of drivers, Oddball paradigm is adopted in cognitive electroencephalogram experiments for bridge signs with different complexities. Taking into account the reading behavior and electroencephalogram characteristics of drivers, four main analysis indexes are extracted: the reading time, proportion of seeking correct destination, early attention potential N100 and cognitive potential P300 in event-related potential (ERP). Analysis of variance with repeated measurements is used to quantify the effect of bridge signs complexity on cognitive process and electroencephalogram characteristics of drivers. The results show that with an increase in bridge sign complexity, the drivers’ reading time increases, and the proportion of seeking correct destination decreases. Meanwhile, the migration of N100 average amplitude and peak value shows more negative shift, while the average amplitude of P300 increases positively; that is, to drivers, the early attention distribution increases, the early attention time lags behind, and the cognitive difficulty increases. In addition, the greater the relative difference between the target stimulus and standard stimulus, the shorter the latency of P300, and the easier to distinguish it from the standard stimulus with a low complexity.