Abstract Environmental cognition has become a significant research field in behavioral geography in recent years. It plays a leading role in studying presidents' behavioral characters and provides references for spatial behavioral strategies. The research on urban image, place cognition, distance cognition and cognition distortion comprise of urban spatial cognition study. Above urban image study has proposed five key spatial image elements, which contributes valuable theory foundation for urban spatial cognition study. The study on spatial cognition pattern is based on place cognition, which is also the basis of distance cognition and cognition distortion research. The study on factors about urban spatial cognition has the same importance as the research about spatial cognition pattern. Based on the survey data about spatial cognition of Beijing city, introducing 16 variables about citizens' attributes etc, binary logistic regression model is utilized extracting factors of place cognition about 23 places, traffic nodes, department stores and parks. There are three conclusions that (1) factors about cognition rate differ among 4 type locations and common factor is experiencing alteration of residence or employment location, showing cognition rate of residents who have alteration experience is higher than that of not. Individual factor is presented in cognition rate of traffic nodes and parks. The former it is manager variable among job type variables and the latter the variable of the most little child's study course in a family; (2) the function of factors in each type differs distinctively. Age variable especially 46-55 years old most affects cognition rate of 23 locations. However, employment location variable particularly four districts inner city has most close relation with cognition rate of both traffic nodes and department stores. The most significant factor about park cognition is the variable of distance less than 6km between employment location and parks; (3) every factor in each place cognition type belongs to different attribute variables and has distinctive function on cognition rate so it is diversity in presidents' place cognition.
2011, Vol. 26 
