A 40-year-old patient with a 15-year history of schizophrenia is noted by his family to have become increasingly withdrawn, rarely initiates conversations, and speaks in very brief, unelaborated responses. He also shows little emotional expression and has lost interest in most activities. Which of the following negative symptoms is best described by his reduced speech output?

Explanation

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include avolition (lack of motivation), anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure), alogia (poverty of speech), affective flattening (reduced emotional expression), and asociality (social withdrawal). The description of 'rarely initiates conversations and speaks in very brief, unelaborated responses' directly corresponds to alogia, which is characterized by a reduction in the quantity or fluency of speech.