Final answer:
Perception involves the organization, interpretation, and conscious experience of sensations, which are detected by sensory receptors. Unlike sensation, perception is subjective and is influenced by both bottom-up and top-down processing as well as attention.
Step-by-step explanation:
The main distinction between sensation and perception is that only perception involves the organization, interpretation, and conscious experience of sensations. Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors detect sensory stimuli, while perception is the brain's process of organizing and interpreting these stimuli to make sense of them in the context of our environment and our past experiences. For instance, the sensation is when scent receptors detect the smell of cinnamon, but the perception might be the evocation of memories associated with that smell, such as recalling the baking of homemade bread by a family member.
Perception includes both bottom-up processing, which is driven by external stimulus, and top-down processing, which is driven by our expectations and prior knowledge. This complex processing leads to a subjective representation of the world around us. Attention also plays a crucial role in perception as it helps to determine what information we focus on and therefore perceive.