Does Isolating a Visual Element Call Attention to It? Results of an Eye-tracking Investigation of the Effects of Isolation on Emphasis    

The study reported here assessed the effects of isolation on attention. Is it true, in other words, that isolating an element in a visual display—moving an element away from other elements and surrounding it with white space—will inspire a greater allocation of attentional resources to the isolated element than to other elements on a page or screen?

Williams, Thomas R., Christopher Mulligan, Kent Koprowicz, Jamie Miller, Christy Reimann and Da-Shin Wang. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Usability>Human Computer Interaction