Together, these three theories give rise to the view that the mind constructs all perceptions and even abstract thoughts strictly from lower-level sensations that are related solely by being associated closely in space and time. The Gestaltists took issue with this widespread “atomistic” view that the aim of psychology should be to break consciousness down into putative basic elements. In contrast, the Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking psychological phenomena down into smaller parts would not lead to understanding psychology. The Gestalt psychologists believed, instead, that the most fruitful way to view psychological phenomena is as organized, structured wholes. They argued that the psychological “whole” has priority and that the “parts” are defined by the structure of the whole, rather than vice versa.