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Dr Rosa Hoekstra

The Open University

Dr Rosa Hoekstra is a lecturer in Biological Psychology and Genetics at The Open University.

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Articles [10]

Browse all OpenLearn articles by Dr Rosa Hoekstra

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studiesCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: Do we really know that the values obtained from twin studies are correct? Are twins different from singletons? Do identical and...  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

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Unzip your genes - Debate being a victim of your genesCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: If something is found to be highly heritable, does this mean I can't do anything about it? Am I simply a victim...  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate being a victim of your genes

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Unzip your genes - Debate the influences on characteristicsCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: So there are genetic and environmental influences on our characteristics. But is it really that simple? Perhaps our genes can...  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the influences on characteristics

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Unzip your genes - Debate missing heritabilityCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: What is 'missing heritability'?  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate missing heritability

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Unzip your genes - Debate specific gene disordersCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: Is there a 'gene for autism', or an 'obesity gene'?  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate specific gene disorders

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Unzip your genes - Debate the gap in our understandingCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: What might be the explanation for 'missing heritability'? What explains this gap in our understanding?  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the gap in our understanding

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Unzip your genes - Debate the genetic influence on body weightCopyrighted Image Jupiter Images

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Join the discussion: How do we know that genes influence how much weight we gain, surely people differ in how much food they eat and...  Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the genetic influence on body weight

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Unzip your genes Featuring: activity, The Open University

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Mark Hirst (The Open University), The OpenLearn team (The Open University)

24 March 2011

Try this quiz to determine whether common traits are hereditary or influenced by the environment  Read more : Unzip your genes

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What is autism?Creative Commons Image Marcobellucci via Flickr

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Ilona Roth (The Open University)

21 April 2010

There's a lot of confusion about what autism is. Ilona Roth and Rosa Hoekstra offer an easy-to-understand overview.  Read more : What is autism?

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Unravelling savant talents Creative Commons Image .ygor via Flickr

By Dr Rosa Hoekstra (The Open University), Dr Ilona Roth (The Open University)

21 April 2010

OU experts Ilona Roth and Rosa Hoekstra describe the different talents that can sometimes be associated with autism, and also dispel some myths around autism...  Read more : Unravelling savant talents

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Research [10]

Browse Dr Rosa Hoekstra’s latest research from Open Research Online

Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Vinkhuyzen, Anna A. E.; Wheelwright, Sally; Bartels, Meike; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Posthuma, Danielle and van der Sluis, Sophie (2011). The construction and validation of an abridged version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ-Short). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(5), pp. 589–596.

Ronald, Angelica and Hoekstra, Rosa A. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders and autistic traits: a decade of new twin studies. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 156(3), pp. 255–274.

Roelfsema, Martine T.; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Allison, Carrie; Wheelwright, Sally; Brayne, Carol; Matthews, Fiona E. and Baron-Cohen, Simon (2011). Are autism spectrum conditions more prevalent in an information-technology region? A school-based study of three regions in the Netherlands. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (In press).

Sucksmith, E.; Roth, I. and Hoekstra, R. A. (2011). Autistic Traits Below the Clinical Threshold: Re-examining the Broader Autism Phenotype in the 21st Century. Neuropsychology Review Online First.

Roth, Ilona; Barson, Chris; Hoekstra, Rosa; Pasco, Greg and Whatson, Terry (2010). The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice. London/Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Hoekstra, Rosa A. and Wheelwright, Sally (2010). Autistic traits in simplex and multiplex autism families: Focus on unaffected relatives. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 153B(1), pp. 356–358.

Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Happé, Francesca; Baron-Cohen, Simon and Ronald, Angelica (2010). Limited genetic covariance between autistic traits and intelligence: Findings from a longitudinal twin study. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 153B(5), pp. 994–1007.

Hoekstra, Rosa and Whatson, Terry (2010). Biological explanations. In: Roth, Ilona; Barson, Chris and Hoekstra, Rosa eds. The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice. London/Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Hoekstra, R.; Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E.; van der Sluis, S. and Posthuma, D. (2010). Disentangling genetic and assortative mating effects on autistic traits: an extended twin family study in adults. In: 40th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, June 2010, Seoul.

Hoekstra, Rosa; Happé, Francesca; Baron-Cohen, Simon and Ronald, Angelica (2009). Association between extreme autistic traits and intellectual disability: insights from a general population twin study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(6), pp. 531–536.

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Comments [17]

Read what people are saying about Dr Rosa Hoekstra’s OpenLearn articles

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by om2245

30 Aug 2011

Hi Paul, The programme I think you are looking for was called The Secret Life of Twins - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n6yyz. It wasn't an Open University programme but someone here remembered... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by zz821424

29 Aug 2011

Hi I was watching a documentary on T.V a couple of nights ago (can't remember what side or what it was called now) but anyway it was going on about how new research that is being carried out showing... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by sk5654

27 Aug 2011

Dear Dr Hoekstra, You posted : but life style factors and food intake may also be important Yes no doubt. However given the same house hold you could not say that both food intake and life style... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by zz815711

18 Aug 2011

Very interesting. I am a 60 year old identical twin; my twin, who remains pretty similar to me is living and working in Australia. We have extremely similar interests (both have flown and photograph... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes - Debate the influences on characteristics

Comment posted by zz785720

10 Jun 2011

This is a subject that is of great interest to me, though I should declare that I am neither a qualified life scientist, nor a formal student of life sciences. I used to engage with the old Open2... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the influences on characteristics

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by zz784008

05 Jun 2011

I am very intrigued by information like this. I even took the quiz about what behaviors are thought to be heritable and what research on twin studies shows. Now perhaps I misunderstood or maybe I... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Comment posted by zz784008

05 Jun 2011

I am very intrigued by information like this. I even took the quiz about what behaviors are thought to be heritable and what research on twin studies shows. Now perhaps I misunderstood or maybe I... Read more : Unzip your genes - Debate the value of twin studies

Unzip your genes

Comment posted by om2245

16 May 2011

Hi Simon - many thanks for this, our tecnical team are investigating. OpenLearn Moderator Read more : Unzip your genes

Unzip your genes

Comment posted by zz777455

14 May 2011

Great fun - we've covered this over at Genome Engineering http://www.genome-engineering.com/unzip-your-genes.html Read more : Unzip your genes

Unzip your genes

Comment posted by sfh46

12 May 2011

I looked forward to this quiz, but every time I hit the launch button for the test it took me back to the introduction page. There may be a gremlin in the works. Thought you might like to know.... Read more : Unzip your genes

Biography

Read Dr Rosa Hoekstra’s biography.

Dr Rosa Hoekstra is a lecturer at The Open University. After completing her PhD in Behaviour Genetics at the VU University in Amsterdam, she continued her research at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. She now combines her autism research with teaching in the fields of Biological Psychology and Genetics. In her research, she aims to better understand the genetic causes of autism and the factors underlying the strong variability in symptoms between people on the autism spectrum.

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