Jack Dempsey, PhD
Data Scientist – Research Executive – Cognitive Psychologist
I work as Vice President of Research at Cascade Reading, where I direct the company’s research agenda, manage the company’s social media presence, and lead algorithm development.
At the heart of my work is a passion for quantitative solutions to real world problems. Some of my research skills and professional interests include A/B testing, causal inference, psychometrics (e.g., IRT), peer-reviewed publishing, and applying subject matter expertise in educational psychology and reading to improve real-world outcomes. I use a variety of tools like Python, R, SQL, and more to answer a myriad of questions, and I love learning how to use new tools.
In my spare time, I teach a course on developmental linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and participate in academic research and consulting. I also practice piano, study world languages, and dabble in mixology.
Representative Work:
Dempsey, J., Christianson, K., & Van Dyke, J. A. (in press). Eye-tracking benefits from linguistically-driven text formatting while reading. Reading and Writing. Read here.
Dempsey, J., Tsiola, A., Bosch, N., Christianson, K., & Stites, M. (2025). Eye-movement indices of reading while debugging Python source code. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 37(2), 89-107. Read here.
Dempsey, J., Christianson, K., & Van Dyke, J. A. (2025). Linguistically-driven text formatting improves reading comprehension for ELLs and EL1s. Reading and Writing, 38(4), 1107-1128. Read here.
Jack Dempsey 