Difference between Sensation and Perception

We make contact with the world around us through our five primary senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Psychologists distinguish between sensation and perception. Sensation is the pickup of information by our sensory receptors, for example the eyes, ears, skin, nostrils, and tongue. In vision, sensation occurs as rays of light are collected by the two eyes and focused on the retina. In hearing, sensation occurs as waves of pulsating air are collected by the outer ear and transmitted through the bones of the middle ear to the cochlear nerve. Perception is the interpretation of what is sensed. The physical events transmitted to the retina may be interpreted as a particular color, pattern, or shape. The physical events picked up by the ear may be interpreted as musical sounds, a human voice, noise, and so forth.

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Perception
Perception means interpretation. Lack of experience may cause a person to misinterpret what he has seen or heard.