How has evolution influenced sensation and perception

Answer 1

1. At the most general level you might look into a subfield of evolutionary biology called sensory ecology.
2. For an in-depth and fascinating look at how natural selection impacts perception/cognition/sensation take a look at Lynne Isbell's The Fruit the Tree, and the Serpent: Why We See So Well
3. For a fascinating look at how sexual selection impacts perception, specifically aesthetic perception broadly conceived, morphology and sensation definitely check out Richard O. Prum's recent monographic piece entitled The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—and Us (Importantly, Prum treats natural selection as a distinctive evolutionary force very much so separate from sexual selection)
4. If you're interested in how evolution has shaped human perception and sensation another great place to look is a burgeoning field called evolutionary aesthetics.
5. I'm not entirely sure what "Evolution affects populations not individuals" is supposed to mean? Populations are said to evolve as opposed to individual organisms if you're defining evolution as a change in allele frequency. So, evolution, on this definition, occurs, takes place, happens at the population-level. But natural selection might very well operate at the individual-level or alternatively at the group-level as in so-called group selection. So, the expression "Evolution affects populations not individuals" is very much so misleading if by evolution you mean evolution by natural selection.

Answer 2

Evolution affects populations instead of individuals. If something benefits a population's ability to mate and reproduce, they will evolve in that direction. This applies to sensation and perception. For example, some organisms, like bats, hunt at night because that's when mosquitos are out. They have evolved sonar so they can perceive their prey. Cats also hunt at night as their prey are also nocturnal, like mice. Their eye sight has evolved to be optimal for night vision.