ABSTRACT
Individual differences are a common feature in many communication processes. Traditionally, this variability has been treated as noise, but recent advances in cognate fields have demonstrated the potential for treating it as signal instead. This chapter reviews the potential role of individual differences in communication science, including the various ways they have been dealt with previously, as well as examples of how they can be leveraged to advance theoretical understanding, with a special focus on applications in communication neuroscience. It concludes with a brief consideration of culture, and examples of how the two concepts can reciprocally inform each other.
