Principles of concept formation extracted from an extensive review of theoretical and empirical work in psychology, and their relationship to home economics are presented. The present attempts of home economics educators to identify the basic concepts of the field and organize curriculums around them are potentially fruitful, both for students and for the image of home economics. However, these educators have limited the meaning of "concept" in their use of the "concept approach." Curriculum groups have thus far been concerned only with concepts as products while experimental psychologists have investigated the process of learning concepts. The home economics teacher would profit from the curriculum in which the two approaches were unified. Only national cooperation in building high school home economics curriculums would make possible the development of correlated textbooks, pamphlets, films, filmstrips, tapes, demonstration equipment and other illustrative materials. Topics discussed are (1) meanings of concept, and the task, methodological, organismic, and strategy variables in concept learning, (2) the use of the concept approach in improving high school curriculums in the physical, biological, and social sciences and mathematics, and (3) sample lessons in the area of management of personal and family life illustrating the "conceptual mode" of teaching. (FP)