Which condition can affect visual development by causing misalignment of the eyes?

Strabismus is a condition characterized by the misalignment of the eyes, where one eye may turn inward, outward, upward, or downward while the other eye looks straight ahead. This misalignment can lead to issues with depth perception and can interfere with visual development, especially in children. If strabismus is not addressed, it can result in amblyopia, commonly known as "lazy eye," where the brain begins to ignore the input from one of the eyes, further affecting visual acuity.

Other options, such as arteriosclerosis, otitis media, and otosclerosis, are unrelated to the misalignment of the eyes and do not primarily impact visual development in this manner. Arteriosclerosis pertains to the thickening and hardening of arterial walls, otitis media is an infection of the middle ear that can affect hearing rather than vision, and otosclerosis refers to a bone growth in the ear that also affects hearing. Thus, strabismus is the key condition that directly involves eye alignment issues and visual development.